A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Web Site Committee was held on Sep 13, 2006 at the Mountain Lakes Borough Hall.  In attendance were Clive Knowles, Nilesh Shringarpure, Mark Watrous, Borough Council Liaison George Jackson, and Chairman Andy Bulfer.

Activities Since Last Meeting

• Andy Bulfer put a article on Ticks on the Health Commission page at the request of Health Commission Secretary Robin Steele.
  
  
• Clive Knowles put extensive work into installing a very interesting walking tour of the historic sites in town.  The tour was prepared by Emily Nix and Jessica Barlow for their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting, and the results are outstanding.  There is a main tour, which covers the areas around Midvale Rd, Lake Drive, and Briarcliff Rd.  including the Library, Train Station, Luellen House, Lake Drive School, Boulevard Trolley, St.  Peters, Little Theater, Community Church, etc.  There is also an optional driving tour covering areas of town that are too distant to walk such as the Righter House, Ship’s Chain, Sled Run, and Grimes House.
  
  
• Mark Watrous uncovered and fixed a number of duplicate inconsistent Municipal Court pages.
  
  
• Nilesh Shringarpure revamped the Swimming and Diving program page based on material received from Kim Lappe.  The changes were extensive and we received only a pdf file.  Converting it to html was time-consuming.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer put a series of pages about the Summer Reading program on Library Web site.
  
  
• Clive Knowles added the complete list of 55 PLUS events for the Fall season.  It was somewhat frustrating job since the 55 PLUS group did not yet have a chairman in place so Knowles didn't have anyone to work with.
  
  
• Mark Watrous set up an e-mail address for a new person at Borough Hall.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer installed a notice for Internet Safety program on the Health Commission page and on the Health Clinics page
  
  
• Clive Knowles removed information about the Lifeguard course from the Recreation pages.
  
  
• Mark Watrous added a page on Health Screening at the request of Health Commission Secretary Robin Steele.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer was contacted by Patrica Carque, the Senior Pastor of the Community Church.  She wished to update the Community Church pages and wanted to know how she should go about it.  Bulfer gave her several options including 1) letting the Web Committee continue to do it, 2) getting a member of her congregation to do it using a "personal web site" on the Mountain Lakes site, or 3) completely separating with a new domain and hosting company.  For the moment, she opted for #1 and Bulfer made a number of changes for her.  She seemed pleased.
  
  
• Clive Knowles worked with Penny Leman to add minor updates to the Garden Club pages.
  
  
• Mark Watrous updated and expanded the Boy Scouts Troop 41 pages.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer checked the e-mail settings for Borough Clerk Christina Whitiker after she complained of receiving a great deal of spam.  Bulfer adjusted the spam filters for her account to filter more strongly.
  
  
• Clive Knowles added a page on Rabies at the request of Health Commission Secretary Robin Steele.
  
  
• Mark Watrous continued to monitor the Web site access and error logs to identify and fix problems on the site. There are some links on the Shade Tree site pointing to a file that no longer exists concerning Certified Tree Experts.  Watrous said he would fix them.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer installed a new Medical Needs Foundation application form at the request of chair Margarethe Laurenzi.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer worked with Borough Manager Gary Webb to add a new feature to the Web site: an ability to review and pay parking tickets by credit card.  It’s based on a NJ state service called NJMCdirect.  It’s fast, secure, and convenient.  Hopefully it will be well-received by those in town who need it.
  
  
• Andy Bulfer received the September HSA Bulletin and installed it all on the Web site.
  
  

Old Business

• As described above, the Web Committee has put an Historic Walking Tour on the Web site.  However to take it, one has to print out a number of Web pages, carry them with them, and read while they walk.  We would like to have the tour in audio form much like many museums have.  Users could download the audio files from the Web site, load them into their iPOD or other music player, and listen to them as they walk.  But we need a script written -- we can get someone to read it into a microphone, but we don't have anyone who can write it in a creative, interesting way.  The script should be entertaining and insightful, not a dry recitation of facts.  Bulfer plans to bring it up also at an upcoming HPC meeting.
  
  
• Back in March, Andy Bulfer had asked George Jackson to review and update the FAQs page.  Jackson has not made much progress but will look at it again.  He suggested Borough Manager Gary Webb might be a better choice.
  
  
• In April, Andy Bulfer submitted four ideas to the LINC coordinator at MLHS for consideration for student projects.  Although she promised they would be completed by June 13 (the date of High School graduation) we received nothing.  Bulfer said he understood that the High School was not satisfied with the students' work and plans to take up the projects again this year.
  
  
• We are waiting to hear from the Shade Tree Commission if they wish to pursue the proposed searchable database of trees in the Borough right-of-way.  The proposal would allow someone to put their address into a Web page form and obtain a listing of the details of the trees in the Borough right of way in front of their house.  Their meeting is Thu Sep 14 so we may hear soon.
  
  
• Bulfer mentioned that it may be possible to distribute the Notice Board notices by a new technology called RSS.  He has brought this up in the past but at the time, no one on the Committee knew how to do it.  Bulfer said he has figured it out and will provide Clive Knowles with an example file.
  
  

No Progress

• The Committee would still like a Search Engine on the front page.  We had one with the previous server.  One of the things that makes it difficult is that we wish the Schools site (mtlakes.org) to be included in the search results.
  
  
• We have the daily traffic report working well but the Committee would like the daily statistics rolled up into a monthly traffic report.
  
  

New Business

• The Home and School Association has requested the Web Committee to develop a complete module of pages on their behalf.  They have assigned LaVonne Feigeles to be their representative.  It appears to be a moderately large job.  Mark Watrous volunteered to work with Feigeles to design the layout and navigation.  After this is completed, Emily Wolfe has volunteered to do the graphic design.  The H&SA must of course provide the content which the Web Committee will upload.
  
  
• George Jackson said the Borough would like a means to communicate with the people of the Borough by broadcast e-mail.  This could be used for urgent messages and perhaps as a cost-saving alternative to the Home and School Bulletin.  A number of technological and implementation alternatives were discussed.  Nilesh Shringarpure will do a detailed study including discussing it with Borough Manager Gary Webb.
  
  
• The chair of the Medical Needs Foundation, Margarethe Laurenzi, has asked the Web Committee to update the content about the Spirit 5K which is scheduled for Sun Oct 22 -- only five weeks away.  Andy Bulfer who has done it in the past will format and upload the material.
  
  
• There was a discussion about the policy on what notices are permitted on the Web site Notice Board.  Although the initial concept was to have it the same as that of the physical Bulletin Board outside of Borough Hall, some on the Committee now feel that policy is too restrictive.  They believe that since the Web site Notice Board does not have the same physical space limitations as the Bulletin Board, we should be looser about what is permitted.  Andy Bulfer will draft a proposed new policy for the Committee to review.  Clive Knowles will discuss it with Elise Ross who approves Notice Board submissions.
  
  
• The Committee expressed a desire to have the new real estate tax rates on the Web.  George Jackson will obtain an electronic version of the insert that was sent to all homes from Borough Financial Officer Dana Merville.  He will provide it to Clive Knowles who will install it on the Web site.
  
  

Date for Next Meeting

The next regular meeting will be on Oct 11, 2006 at Borough Hall.

Andy Bulfer,
Chairman