Covington launched its new Web site on June 15 and users will find the site to be more informative, interactive and helpful, even though the name, cityofcovington.org, has stayed the same. Mayor Kim Carter said the feedback has been totally positive and she’s excited about how the site will benefit the city.

"It is such a vast improvement in both content and usability over the former Web site," Carter said via e-mail. "It allows greater ability for us to communicate in real time to the public and for the public to easily communicate with the city. The main goal is to improve the citizens’ and customers’ ability to interact with us without having to come into city hall to complete so many business activities."

Although the site is up, it’s still in test mode and not yet fully operational, Carter said. Systems Information Manager Bobby Johnson said the city is loading more content onto the site on a daily basis and 95 percent of the content will be online by the middle of July.

Soon utility customers will be able to pay bills and residents will be able to apply for city jobs online, Carter said. Johnson said sometime over the next year businesses will be able to pay for permits and license fees online as well.

"We have received very positive feedback from our users. Our goal with the We b site was to make it very user friendly and to include not only information about the city of Covington as a community but also as a utility provider," Johnson said.

Users will also be able to view city council meetings and city project bids on the site. Johnson said the city is also considering a page to auction off retired city equipment.

Each of the council members has an updated biography section and the mayor has several personal resources listed on her page, including her calendar of events and a blog-like Mayor’s Corner section.

Each city department also has an updated page, with significantly more information than the previous site.

The site will be able to be updated more often, easily and quickly than before.

Since the site is still being updated, residents are invited to voice their suggestions either through the Web site at cityofcovington.org/contact or by phone at (770) 385-2000.

The city is also working on getting its internal site for employees up and running. The internal site will allow for easier communication, easier digital document transferring and better coordination of calendars, Johnson said. The city hopes to save time and money with a more efficient internal site.

Atlanta-based ThoughtBridge won the bid for the project and the total cost for labor will be $83,912.81, Johnson said. The city will also have to pay for the software built for the site.