DOWAGIAC — Within the next couple of weeks, the city of Dowagiac’s website will be stepping into 2020 with a new look.

The website’s redesign, which began in July as the city started to accept proposals, is currently in a beta version. Today, staff will go through a three-hour training to go over how to work the new website, said Assistant City Manager Natalie Dean, who has spearheaded the project.

The redesign, which had been on the city’s radar for a while, is a push by the city to improve its website presence for both residents and staff.

“What we are trying to do first and foremost is bring Dowagiac into the year 2020 in our website presence,” Dean said. “We wanted a general overall aesthetic update to the website.”

Dean said it was important for the city to show its users on the website that the city is progressive.

While the new updated website will be going live shortly, there will be a learning process that takes place, with constant updates, Dean said.

“The website, when it comes out, will be the base that we will work with,” she said. “Over the next two to three years, we are going to be continuously making improvements on that website so that more and more things will be online and fillable online.”

Dean said the new website will start to introduce residents to a 24/7 city hall, something that Dowagiac has never seen before.

With the redesign, Dowagiac residents will be able to access tax and building information, apply for permits online and submit city bills online.

“If you needed to pay a bill or file for a permit, you could do so at midnight on Saturday,” Dean said. 

Dean expects the full capacity of the website’s new additions to take a while to incorporate as they require a variety of software.

“Other software plays into the website, so we have to work with different companies to get our systems here to work with the website,” Dean said.

As the website launches, certain key staff at the city, mostly department heads, will continuously make changes to the website and update information as needed.

Dean said the new website will be easier for residents to navigate and also include an interactive zoning map, which will allow residents to learn more information about parcels in the area, allowing them to be more informed about discussions at city council meetings or upcoming city projects.

Up to this point, Dean said working with the company to redesign the website has gone smoothly.

“It took a little longer than we wanted it to, but I think it is going to pay off in the end,” she said.