Village's website sleeker following county's redesign

The village of Wolverine Lake recently utilized the services of Oakland County to launch a new and more user-friendly website.

Apparently the former website hosting company terminated their services with the village and village administration was scrambling to find a new resource.

“In this case, necessity was the mother of invention,” Treasurer Mike Kondek said. “Our hosting company unceremoniously dumped us and luckily we made an inquiry to Oakland County. It was a nice debut for the county, which wants to be proactive in website design.”

As a result, the village website is vastly improved, according to Kondek.

“The content and usability is improved and it’s been given a fresh approach,” he said. “There is no more of the redundancy we saw on the old website. Information is more accessible and it disseminates information more succinctly.”

While Oakland County is hosting the website, the actual web design was completed by a county contractor.

“It’s a nice, clean look and the navigation is easy,” said Village Council President John Magee. “The downloads are faster and it feels a little more functional.”

An added bonus in working alongside Oakland County is residents’ ability to now pay utility and taxes online, as well as make donations to various causes. A nominal service fee will be assessed to cover processing.

“Not only can residents pay their taxes and utility payments online, but they can make donations to the fireworks fund or Parks and Recreation events,” Kondek said. “We may add more features, depending on the response we get.”

While the village is still waiting for a final cost estimate, officials expect the endeavor to cost less than what it used to for private web design and hosting.

“It’s a lot cheaper than finding someone in the private sector,” Kondek said.

Visit the village’s website at wolverinelake.com.