For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 6, 2020 - Port Hope, ON
Below is a summary of key items discussed at the Municipality of Port Hope regular Council Meeting held on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. The full agenda and staff reports are available on the Council Portal. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was held electronically via video conference.
New Website for Tourism
Municipal staff made a presentation to Council to officially launch the new website redesign for the Port Hope tourism website.
The new tourism site boasts a much-improved desktop and mobile experience, with all facets of the website responsive and easy to execute on all devices. Highlights of the new site include:
- New business directory: automatically pulls businesses listed on Google through a radius and postal code filter.
- Enhanced search engine tool: provides a user-friendly experience and enables staff to revise the site structure to improve the consumer experience.
- Emergency alert banner: allows information, closures, and notices to be posted easily and effectively.
- Trip tracker: provides the user with the distance and approximate travelling time to Port Hope from the user’s starting location.
- Interactive map: highlights the Municipality’s wonderful amenities directly on the landing page.
- Itinerary ideas: blog posts jammed packed with insider tips from real tourists who have experienced the community as a visitor first-hand.
Both the tourism and municipal website redesigns underwent a procurement process in 2019 and a contract was awarded to e-Solutions, a leading web-developer for municipal and economic development service providers, in early 2020.
During the tourism website build process, e-Solutions and municipal staff met weekly to map out progress and next steps, which included facilitated internal and external community focus groups early in the year. This enabled staff to benefit from numerous perspectives in creating the website structure and meet the wants and needs from key stakeholders.
A launch of the new tourism site took place July 23, 2020. Given the current global pandemic, a large-scale marketing showcase of the new site has been postponed until we are able to welcome tourists from all over Ontario, Canada and abroad to visit Port Hope once again.
The redesign of the municipal website is still in the development phase and will be launched this fall.
Contribution to Capitol Theatre
Council approved a contribution of $100,000, effective immediately, for the Capitol Theatre’s current fundraising campaign for the expansion and renovation of the Theatre. Consideration of an additional commitment of $200,000 will be brought back to Council, pending approval in the 2021 budget, and subject to it being grant matched in 2021.
Amended By-law to govern proceedings
On July 24, 2020, the Province of Ontario lifted the declared emergency. As such, Council amended By-law 49/2015, being a By-law to govern the proceedings of the Council of the Municipality of Port Hope and of its Committees to allow Council and Committee members to hold and participate electronically in meetings and be counted for purposes of quorum in the absence of a declared emergency while in the interest of public safety.
Council Summer Schedule
The Council Summer Schedule is in effect. During the summer months, Council meets on the first Tuesday of July and the first Tuesday of August. Should an urgent matter arise, a Special Council Meeting may be called at the direction of the Mayor or the Clerk.
Minutes from this meeting will be available pending approval at the next Council meeting on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at which point they will become the official record of the meeting.
Recordings of the August 4, 2020 Regular Council meeting and Committee of the Whole meeting are available at porthope.ca/council-communications.
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