FARMINGTON, CT — Farmington is moving ahead with a new municipal website and digital resident services after the Farmington Town Council unanimously approved a $61,690.98 agreement with CivicPlus, a software firm specialising in government services.
The council approved the contract at a special meeting on July 28, following a recommendation from the town's Ad Hoc Technology Committee.
The project will include a redesigned website, an online 311 service request system, an artificial intelligence chatbot, accessibility tools, notifications, and a resident portal.
Councilor Patricia Boye-Williams made the motion to accept the committee's recommendation and authorize Farmington Town Manager Kathy Blonski to sign the agreement. Councilor Dave Wlodkowski seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
The technology committee met 10 times and evaluated multiple technologies and vendors before unanimously recommending CivicPlus as Farmington's website and resident engagement platform.
Farmington Assistant Town Manager Kat Krajewski, Farmington Town Council Chair Brian F. X. Connolly, councilors Bruce Polsky and Keith Vibert, and Information Technology Manager Brian Rush participated in the presentation of the committee's recommendations.
Under the proposal, the town will transition its website to FarmingtonCT.gov. Employee email addresses will remain on the existing .org domain for now.
The $61,690.98 initial cost falls within the town's approved $75,000 capital budget for the project.
Annual operating costs are projected at $48,902.68 beginning in the second year.
Implementation is expected to take about 16 to 28 weeks and will include migrating existing content, training employees, testing the new system, and deploying CivicPlus' ClickFix 311 platform.
ClickFix will allow residents to report issues online or through a mobile app, submit photos, monitor the status of requests, and receive updates.
Town employees will be able to manage those requests through the system to reduce duplicate reports and give residents greater visibility into how requests are handled.
The new platform will also include online forms, customizable notifications, and predictive website search.
CivicPlus representatives Alex Monroe and Michael Nicholson demonstrated the proposed system for the council.
They said the project is intended to go beyond a website redesign by improving access to town information and services.
Accessibility is another component of the project.
The proposed system includes AudioEye and Doc Access tools designed to monitor the website for accessibility issues and assist with making documents accessible.
Language translation and tools for users with visual and other disabilities are also included.
The platform's AI chatbot will allow users to ask questions in natural language, including languages other than English.
According to the presentation, its responses will be based only on information from the town website and connected resources.
The chatbot can also help residents submit service requests.
CivicPlus representatives said the company will assist with content migration, accessibility work, employee training and consulting during implementation.
The town plans to continue using Everbridge for emergency notifications rather than replacing it with the new system.
Committee members said their recommendation sought to balance expanded services with costs while giving Farmington the ability to add capabilities in the future.
With the council's unanimous authorization, the next steps are for Blonski to execute the CivicPlus agreement and for implementation of the new website and digital services to begin.
For the minutes of the July 28 Farmington Town Council meeting, click on this link.
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