County works to improve official Web site
By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-HeraldArticle Links
» Fulton County's official Web siteJOHNSTOWN - Fulton County government has updated its Web site with a new domain name, but it is still tinkering with further improvements, county officials said this week.
People have had some problems accessing the county site in recent weeks, which used to have a Web address of www.fulcony.com. Problems were encountered switching to a new domain, officials said.
County Administrative Officer Jon R. Stead said Monday the county now has a new Web site address - www.fultoncountyny.gov - and that site is running fine this week.
"I think they've gotten the bugs worked out," Stead said.
The Fulton County Information Services Department, housed at the County Services Complex on Route 29 and led by Director Tony Basile, has worked to get the Web site functional.
Basile said Wednesday the problem with the old domain name was that the registration expired and the county didn't own it. He said the county couldn't reach the contractor, who moved from New York City to Florida to North Carolina.
Meanwhile, he said, another person grabbed the old domain name. Now, Basile said, he'll try to convince supervisors that the new site can be made "more user-friendly and provide more service."
The county paid a $125 fee to the U.S. Government Services Administration to establish the new ".gov" address.
Internet browsers looking at the site this week will find it still contains information on the county administration, local governments, and travel and tourism.
A "general information" section features information posted in February about some scholarship winners and a photo. The site includes information on county bid specifications, data on the Fulton County Board of Supervisors, ways to contact state legislators, county agricultural information, a county personnel directory, a history of the county, and links to other sites.
Some sections of the county Web site are clearly "under construction." For example, it includes a county calendar, though as of Wednesday evening it did not list any events happening in 2009.
Stead said other than problems recently to set up the new domain, the county Web site has been very functional and useful for the public.
"We haven't had any real problems for about eight months," he said.
Among one of the problems the new site is still encountering, Stead said, is that the Real Property Tax Map online services are still not accessible. He said problems associated with the "I-Map" service and others are due to be "worked out" soon.
Stead said he thinks the new Fulton County government Web site address now works well with the Internet capabilities of the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Web site. They have similar addresses: The chamber's address is www.fultoncountyny.org. The chamber maintains another Web site at www.44lakes.com.
Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee Chairman Lee Hollenbeck, whose panel oversees the county Information Services Department, said today he is happy the county government Web site is up and running again. But he said the site has had problems in the past and he would like to see it used even more.
"Publicizing it would be good if it was running [regularly] and it is available," said Hollenbeck, the Broadalbin supervisor.
He said the public and government officials often clamor for consolidation of services with Fulton County, and the county Web site could be a prime example. He said the county could include information and links about the county's 10 towns on the site. Some of the towns already have their own sites, as do the cities of Gloversville and Johnstown.
"I've been wanting for this [county Web site] to be updated," Hollenbeck said. "I've always been waiting to see."
Now, Hollenbeck said, the town of Broadalbin is talking about creating its own Web site.
Basile said the county site could host the town sites if they wanted, but he doesn't have the staff to design sites for them.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached by e-mail at johnstown@leaderherald.com.
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resident69
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01-05-09 3:06 PM
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I own my domain name so why didn't the county? As pointed out why bother with a site if you don't update it? Gloversville is the same way. Just let the High school kids do it as a project, at least it wouldn't have out dated information. I think the Chamber of Commerce still list Holiday Twin Theatre...hmmm how long ago was that?
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omegarocks
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01-03-09 4:03 PM
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what's wrong with this picture, let us count the ways: First the site rarely has any updated information. Doesn't anyone ever post anything? a gov't site with a dot com address doesn't make a lot of sense either. And contrary to what's been said, it was NOT a surprise that the domain would expire. Someone is just trying to cover their butt. As for games, I agree the games should be removed and any competent IT person could do that. But I guess if the person rsponsible for removing the games is too busy playing games themselves, they don't have time.
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resident69
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01-02-09 6:49 AM
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So who tried to go the cheap way and NOT buy the domain? While I like the new web address better, it's still shows the mentality of thinking you are saving a few bucks. I like the Mandate Man game idea, or we could have the B.O.S. game where you get big raises if you don't wake anybody up in the chamber.
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resident69
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01-01-09 1:30 PM
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It's amazing that they could not save the old web address since they didn't own it!?!? Really who signed that dumb agreement? $125.00 for a .gov??? You could have gotten one for $10.00 a month for a dot com. If you just looked! Why don't they hire someone that know computers and websites to create the website? I remember the lame attempt with the county network and the numerous viruses coming out of the DSS building plus the memo to remove all games from county computers and all they did was delete the icons! Hello the program is still there. Numerous office still play Solataire. You get what you pay for.
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Adirondackal
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01-01-09 11:22 AM
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Thanks Robin. I always think that Americans, at the core level, want to be entertained. I can remember a few years back the entire city council of Troy was voted out of office. What had they done that was so egregious as to lose their seats? They had just started televising the council meetings and people didn't like to see the process of governing up close and personal. They were comparing what they saw on entertainment TV and the council meetings. I think the same is true for the internet. Make it entertainment, not just facts and figures.
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RobinWentworth
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01-01-09 8:37 AM
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That's actually a very funny idea Adirondackal :)
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Adirondackal
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01-01-09 6:04 AM
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Animation could save this thing. I'd like to see John Stead morph into the 1960s action hero John Steed of "The Avengers" and he and an animated Mrs. Peel could fight wrongdoers with a walking stick and an umbrella. Perhaps a video library as well. Run the Senator Farley ad where Lee is looking for a needle in a haystack- that was a classic. An interactive game or two would be fun as well. How about MandateMan? It's like PacMan except the guy gobbling up dollar signs instead of dots is a state mandate.
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