Grandview Heights is making city news and updates more accessible to residents with new interactive website features and a social media presence.
In May 2012, the Grandview Heights website was revamped with a new look and features. Now that those features are live, city officials are working to get the word out to the public.
City Manager Patrik Bowman says traditional means of communication, such as reports and advertisements in newspapers, are waning and it is becoming more difficult to keep in contact with residents.
“People will have to request the news instead of it being presented to them,” he says.
The new website allows residents to do just that. Through the new Notify Me feature, residents can get city alerts and emergency notifications from city departments of their choosing via email. Residents can choose to get these notifications sent to their mobile phones.
“Notify Me allows residents to get information about the things that will affect them directly,” says Steve Shaner, Grandview Heights fire chief, who spearheaded the efforts to update the website.
One Notify Me feature that Shaner highly recommends residents sign up for is emergency notifications. This feature is reserved for snow emergencies, drinking water contaminations and other emergencies that residents should be aware of immediately.
Other Notify Me options include Board of Health notifications, Grandview Heights City Council agendas and minutes, Parks and Recreation program guides, police alerts, government job listings, and street maintenance and improvement postings that let subscribers know what streets and roads may be closed or have heavy traffic due to maintenance work.
There is also an option for Marble Cliff residents to get information notifications that affect the Marble Cliff area.
Signing up for Notify Me is fast and easy. To sign up, click eNews signup on the Grandview Heights website homepage at www.grandviewheights.org. Enter an email address, password and optional phone number for text message notifications and click the different icons to subscribe to the lists and options available.
Report a Concern is the website’s other new interactive feature, allowing residents to report to the city any issues with city streets, trees, criminal activity, health, safety and more. Concerns can be anything from a fallen tree, burnt-out street lamp or potholes to something more serious that could affect the safety of individuals in the city.
“The different categories are routed to the right people in each department so they can take care of it,” Shaner says.
Residents will be notified when the city receives their messages and can also track their requests. Report a Concern is also available as an iPad app.
For those who prefer Twitter or Facebook for their news, Grandview Heights also sends out notifications via tweets and status updates. To get these notifications, follow Grandview Heights on twitter at @GrandviewOhio or like the Facebook page Grandview Heights, OH.
“We like to use social media as another way to inform rather than trying to interact with residents,” Bowman says.
Email alerts, Facebook posts and tweets are sent out daily or a couple times per week based on what is happening in the city during that time.
Shaner hopes more Grandview Heights residents will sign up for the new features.
“Our push lately has been trying to get more subscribers and let folks know what features are available to them,” he says.
As of July 1, the Notify Me page on the website was visited more than 900 times. Each Notify Me list had almost 300 subscribers, except for Police Reports which had 314 subscribers. Emergency Alerts had only 93 subscribers, the least of all the categories. The Report a Concern page was visited about 350 times, the Facebook page has about 86 likes and the Twitter account has 121 followers.
The city published a brochure in July that lists all the website features and how to sign up for them. Shaner says the city has been giving them out at every opportunity. By offering a variety of different ways to bring Grandview Heights news to the public, Shaner hopes residents will find what works best for them.
“Different people like to get their news different ways, and we want residents to be able to get it how they want it,” he says.
Hayley Ross is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Why people visit the Grandview Heights website:
Job Hunting 4.5%
Government Information 43.8%
Document Download 8.2%
Moving to the Area 30.4%
*based on an online poll by the City of Grandview Heights
