November 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 5 Ho-Ho-Kus Mayor forms committee to review website redesign by Jennifer Crusco Ho-Ho-Kus Mayor Thomas Randall has decided to form a committee that will review ways to improve the borough’s website. At last week’s council session, Randall said he had already asked Council- man Steve Shell to serve on the committee. The mayor then asked Councilman Doug Troast if he would also be part of the group; Troast agreed. Randall said he would also be speaking with residents regarding their potential service on the committee. The mayor noted that some initial, informal research had involved looking at award-winning websites. However, he said the bulk of the project would be under way in 2014. The mayor asked Borough Clerk Laura Borchers to keep the website on the coun- cil’s agenda. He also said he had spoken with Ruthanne Frank, the borough’s web- master. Borough Administrator Don Cirulli noted that website redesign can be expen- sive, sometimes in the range of $25,000. “That’s not what we’re talking about,” Randall said. “So we’re just gathering information,” Cirulli clarified, and the mayor responded in the affirmative. Post-meeting assertions that the borough had hired a Web designer were dismissed by an informed source. According to that source, the borough is looking into having someone work on improvements to the municipality’s website, but has not received any quotes or bids and has not hired anyone. The process is still in its infancy, the source said. The recent push to update Ho-Ho-Kus’ website came when resident Robert Earl expressed his dismay with the borough’s current offering. At a recent Ho-Ho-Kus Council session, Earl said the information being presented is not timely. He indicated that, when he last visited the website, the most recent council agenda was from May 21 and the last batch of minutes was dated April 23. He urged the borough’s officials to use the website to keep the community better informed. The resident pointed out that Saddle River has up-to-date information available online, and said he was disap- pointed by Ho-Ho-Kus’ website. He indi- cated that, during a previous discussion, the council had told him the borough did not have the financial resources to constantly update the website. This year, he said, he had noticed that there are a number of Ho-Ho-Kus websites. The resident claimed he had found nine or 10 sites for Ho-Ho-Kus departments and organizations. He expressed his view that the borough does not have a vision for how to use the (continued on page 8)