LANCASTER TWP — Supervisors took a significant step toward improving the township’s main communication platform when it approved a contract with a new web developer at a meeting on Monday, Aug. 19.

The municipal website design company, Revize, will seek to revamp the township’s current website, which has had its fair share of issues, according to township manager Mary Hess.

“Our website was horrible,” said Hess. “We want to be able to give the public more information and be more transparent about what we do.”

The initial cost of the contract, which includes the website package and mass communication, is $11,388 for the first year. After that, the annual fee will be a fixed cost of $2,400.

Revize will offer an easy-to-use interface in addition to improved security measures, including protection against malware and threats, continuous monitoring and a security data center.

The township also will receive comprehensive technical support that will feature 12-hour support, 24/7 monitoring, daily backups, regular upgrades and disaster recovery.

“The main benefits are going to be improved communication and ease of updating that website,” said supervisors chairman Greg Kessler. “Right now, we have a very old, outdated system. The third benefit is improved cybersecurity.

“It wasn’t only a good decision; it was absolutely necessary.”

Hess and communications administrator Sylvia Brackbill listened to presentations from two web developers during a process that lasted about three months.

The other developer under consideration was CivicPlus, whose contract would have been more than double the price.

The board also approved the appointment of Bob Brennan to fill the open volunteer position on its planning commission.

“We advertised, if you will, for candidates and got two,” said Kessler. “We picked the one that we felt had the most experience and would be the biggest contributor to the planning commission.”