Notifying the parish about sewage or drainage problems might get a lot easier with the introduction of St. Charles Parish’s new state-of-the-art Web site, which officially went live on Jan. 12.
Though the site (located at www.stcharlesparish-la.gov) has many new features, none may be as important in the future as the feedback form being developed for the site. By filling out the form, residents can alert the parish to any problems they experience. Since the user’s feedback will go directly to the department responsible for tackling that specific problem, solving them should get a little quicker.
“In time we hope to set up the feedback form so that resident’s problems will get addressed in a more timely manner,” Renee Allemand-Simpson, the parish’s spokeswoman, said. “Visitors can fill out a form and the information will be e-mailed to the correct department.”
The Web site has undergone a complete redesign in other areas as well. When visitors log on to the main page, they will be greeted with a menu consisting of the categories government, residents, businesses and visitors.
“We ended up rearranging the Web site to make it more organized and intuitive,” Simpson said. “We figured that anyone visiting the site would fit into one of those categories, so the information is tailored to that visitor’s interest.”
If a visitor clicks on government, they will learn about Parish President V.J. St. Pierre, the Parish Council members, parish departments and see replays of council meetings. If they click on the residents tab, they can learn about upcoming community events and Channel 6.
The calendar of events is also unique because it can be filtered for each user.
“The calendar organizes everything for you,” Simpson said. “If you’re interested in council meetings, the calendar can just show you a schedule of only the meeting dates. If you want to see all of the parish events, you can view it that way as well.”
The site also improves upon the way residents do business with the parish, including online bill payment and updated information for each parish department. Residents will also be able to sign up for personalized e-mail newsletters depending on their areas of interest.
To celebrate the launch of the site, the parish began accepting stories and pictures from residents for the Public Information Office’s picture and story contest. Those who submit the best photos and stories of St. Charles Parish and its people and places will be eligible to win prizes from local sponsors Jackie Bee Inc., 90 West Restaurant and Adam and Eve Day Spa.
There will be at least three winners.
“We wanted to get the people interested in the new site, so we are giving them a chance to get their names and faces online,” Simpson said.
For more information on the contest, visit www.stcharlesparish-la.gov/websitecontest.
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