The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is working to improve the appearance and functionality of its website.
SLRD officials announced at Monday’s (June 23) board meeting that a tentative launch date for a new regional district website — www.slrd.bc.ca — is set for July 10.
“Our focus was to modernize the design, establish an effective information architecture, enhance the availability and access to information and improve the user experience,” Jeannette Nadon, SLRD communications and grants coordinator, told board members.
“That was our main focus... trying to make it as intuitive as possible.”
The website redesign, which cost about $50,000, will replace the SLRD’s current outdated site with a modern design focused on helping people find what they’re looking for.
“We’re trying to make the website as easy as possible for people to find information, and everybody looks for information differently,” Nadon said.
The website is introducing a new “I Want To” feature, which streamlines the search process, she said.
“So if people want to apply for a building permit, or learn about independent power projects, or pay for a utility bill, they can use the ‘I Want To’ menu to navigate to any of those areas,” Nadon said, “and basically they’re just connecting to existing pages on the website, so it’s a secondary way to navigate.”
The website will feature a searchable bylaw directory and traditional search functions which users can filter by news or documents.
Report received
The 2013 Director’s Remuneration Report contains numbers comparable to last year’s, with directors earning more or less depending on enhanced or diminished roles with the district.
Overall director remuneration payments were down almost $20,000 from 2012, from $221,155.68 to $203,350.59.
Road upgrades set
Representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure provided an update on projects in the region, including the resurfacing of 7.2 kilometres on Pemberton Meadows Road and some particularly bad stretches between Mount Currie and Pemberton.
“We’ve had a pretty aggressive last five or six years with Highway 99,” said Todd Hubner, manager with the ministry’s Cariboo District, adding that more than $30 million has been invested in the highway in the past decade.
“We’ve done a number of resurfacing projects through there.”
Another project in the works is the application of durable line markings between Function Junction and Lorimer Road in Whistler.
Director and Whistler Coun. Andree Janyk said she’d like to see the durable markings extend further south than that.
“It is a huge night-time… safety issue,” Janyk said.
“I just think it’s something that will work great. Those white lines on the side make a huge difference on a road you’re not familiar with.”
