Pacific officials have heard the complaints about the City’s website.

And they appear poised to address them.

On Monday the council expects to vote on a proposal to pay CivicLive $8,000 to rebuild the website. City administrator Richard Gould said during last Tuesday’s City council meeting that he and three technology committee members spent nearly a year investigating ways to modernize Pacific’s website. After examining different companies, Gould said, they selected CivicLive.

“We looked at some of their websites throughout the country for cities that are similar in size to us, and they’re not only pleasant to look at but also very functional,” Gould said.

He also said the committee was impressed that CivicLive, which was founded in 2001 and later rebuilt the City of Tacoma’s website, would modernize Pacific’s site again in “four or five years” at no cost to the City.

Gould said the project is important because the City’s website, which he estimates to be 10 years old, does not serve Pacific’s residents well.

“One of the things you want to accomplish with a website … is communication with your audience,” he said. “I don’t think we’re achieving that with this website. I don’t know that we ever did.”

Describing the website as “cluttered,” Gould noted that some items, such as City council meeting agendas and minutes, have multiple links on the front page because people struggle to find them.

“It’s a mess,” he said.

Gould said that affects City staff because they receive phone calls about information that should be easy to locate, like obtaining a permit or license. In addition to addressing that issue, he said, a new website will help promote the annual Pacific Days celebration in July in addition to offering information about a possible change in water rates.

Should the council approve the expenditure, Gould said, he hopes Pacific residents and staff will tell him what they want from the new website, which he hopes will launch toward the end of the year.

Gould can be reached at rgould@ci.pacific.wa.us or 253-350-3732.