GOOD HOPE — Online visitors might not immediately notice any distinctive visual changes at the the City of Good Hope’s official website, goodhopeal.com. But behind the scenes, the site has recently been put through an upgrade; one that allows more information about the city to be shared more quickly with both mobile and desktop users.

A switch in service has afforded city staff more flexibility in uploading information to the site. “We went with a new company, and it’s a lot more user-friendly for us,” explained city clerk Christie Chamblee.

“We can do more things ourselves. It still looks the same, but I’ve got our [meeting] minutes, I’ve got our calendar, I’ve got our ordinances all on there, and those can all be updated much faster. The ordinances are big, because people are always asking for information about the alcohol ordinance, the zoning ordinance, our building permits, our building codes.”

The website upgrade was noted on the agenda for the city’s Dec. 16 regular meeting, which was called to order and immediately adjourned for a lack of quorum due to the expected absence of mayor Jerry Bartlett,  along with the absences of councilmembers Greg Brown and Terry Shabel. Without speculating on the reason for the lack of a quorum, those present noted that several Good Hope councilmembers, city employees and their families have recently experienced a variety of seasonal illnesses.

Likely to appear on the council’s next meeting agenda are a pair of rollover items up for consideration at the Dec. 16 meeting, including a measure to renew the city’s AirMedCare benefit agreement for municipal employees, as well as consideration of a maintenance bond to safeguard the city against any unforeseen, post-completion shortcomings in asphalt work done at the Mize Meadows subdivision.

The next regular meeting of the Good Hope City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, at the council meeting room at Good Hope City Hall.

Benjamin Bullard can be reached at bbullard@cullmantimes.com and by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 234.