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Buffalo Grove launches new “user friendly” website

Buffalo Grove trustees this week got a look at the village’s new website, vbg.org, which officials say is more interactive and user friendly than the previous version.

The site, developed by CivicPlus, a website consulting company that specializes in local government, is convenient for residents who want to pay a bill online or submit a comment to staff, said village management analyst Lauren Stott.

“With a product that is so dynamic and adaptable, I know we will continue to make improvements to better serve the community online,” she said.

The website also serves as a gateway to other government entities serving the village, much like the recently rolled out village mobile app. This gives residents the ability to access websites for organizations like the park district and Metra from the village’s website.

For anyone interested in requesting information through the Freedom of Information Act, the site offers a transparency portal that contains instructions for filing requests. Companies interested in doing business with the village can find online bid postings and get RFPs sent directly to their email.

“This streamlines our contracting process and helps provide information to contractors as soon as it’s available,” Stott said.

Information about the village on even small levels is available on the website through the Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping tool. The tool draws data from several sources to provide information about locations throughout the village. For example, a resident can type in an address and find data about the location drawn from the county assessor’s office, including square footage and assessed value.

“In the coming months, we’ll be working to put together a new resident packet on the website, so residents who are looking to move to the village can research property and find out the information they might be looking for,” Village Manager Dane Bragg said.

Trustee Michael Terson was impressed.

“I don’t mean this to come across as a criticism of the old website, but I’ve gone to the new website, and it is just significantly more user friendly,” he said.

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