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Members of the public could see their photos of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the Mingo Statue or many of Wheeling's other landmarks as part of the city's new $33,000 website being designed by Colorado-based EvoGov.
City Marketing and Community Relations Specialist Allison Skibo said the website should be complete and ready for use some time during the fall. Wheeling officials believe site should facilitate more contact between the city and residents, so in the event of a water boil order or rescheduled trash collection residents can receive a text message or email about the change.
They also said the price includes training of staff to manage the new website, as well as an automatic refreshing of the design within a few years to keep its appearance timely.
Officials are seeking photos of various city scenes, including landscapes, architecture, memorable events and aerial shots. Historical and "vintage" photos will also be accepted, as long as they meet the minimum resolution of 2,000 pixels wide by 1,500 pixels tall.
Those wishing to submit photos for consideration should upload them to a file-sharing site such as DropBox or Google Drive, with a link emailed to photos@wheelingwv.gov by Sept. 8.
Earlier this year, city leaders accepted the $33,000 bid from EvoGov, based in Parker, Colo. They chose this firm despite receiving a $14,850 bid from Wheeling-based Beyond Marketing. City leaders said the process under state code for awarding contracts for professional services such as website design is different than for other projects, requiring the city to take into account factors other than the amount of the bid.
The website bids received, from the most to least expensive, were as follows: American Eagle of Des Plaines, Ill. -- $53,550; Revize of Troy, Mich. -- $48,800; Omni of Reno, Nevada -- $47,500; Vision Internet of El Segundo, Calif. -- $45,430; TSG Studios of Triadelphia -- $33,496; EvoGov of Parker, Colo. -- $33,000; CivicLive of Scotts Valley, Calif. -- $29,700; CivicPlus of Manhattan, Kan. -- $29,010; and Beyond Marketing of Wheeling -- $14,850.