New Website Coming to Morris Township

A common thread being tugged on in town halls around New Jersey since the two hurricanes and the Halloween snowstorm struck is increased crisis communication and ease of access to information. Many towns took to the drawing board to come up with new ways in which to reach their residents.

In Morris Township, the decision was made to redesign the existing website. At the Sept. 18 meeting of the Township Committee, Administrator Timothy Quinn and Assistant Personnel Manager /Assistant Public Information Officer Virginia Murphy walked the Township Committee and those assembled through the look and features of the new site.

“We’re really excited,” Quinn said. “This new website is going to be very interactive for our residents.”

One of the features Quinn was most excited about was the new “Notify Me” feature.

“This will allow residents to sign up to get an e-mail when certain things are updated on the site,” Quinn said. “If they want pool news, that is what they will get. But they also can be notified when agendas and minutes are posted. Things like that.”

Quinn also said when emergencies occur it will be easier for residents to get information.

“It will allow us to communicate during emergency situations like our annual 100-year storm which we should be having in about a month,” Quinn said.

Another feature on the site will be “Report a Concern.” This will allow residents to address issues they see in the community.

“It won’t be anonymous. They will need an e-mail address to use it,” Quinn said. “That way we can contact them.”

The Township is also planning to increase their presence on both Facebook and Twitter.

Morris Township resident Lee Goldberg asked if there was a plan to leverage the e-mail addresses the Township already has on file and if there would be an archive migration for old minutes and agendas.

“Both of those things are being worked on,” Quinn said.

As for a go live date, Quinn was reticent to target one specifically, but said the new site should be up and running in a couple of weeks.