Photo: Out with the old: A new and improved town website will be rolled out later in the fall

As one resident said at a recent Select Board meeting, the best word to describe the Town of Belmont’s current website would be “meh.” He called it an example of a “last generation utilitarian site” with the basic components like a calendar, notices, and lists of departments and committees, but lacks that “wow” factor that would draw the average residents to use it.

But in the next month or so, the town will be launching a revamped website with a brand new appearance that will bring a vastly improved user experience the town is hoping will engage the public.

“We’ll be rolling out a new website later this fall,” said Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin last week, with the aim of “putting a lot more on the website so people can easily access information and then, obviously, making more transparent,” she said.

“Hopefully it will have a new look and definitely a better and more information,” said Select Board Vice Chair Matt Taylor at the board’s meeting.

The path to building the new town website began in 2019 after complaints piled up for years pointing to the site’s rather meager usability.

“There was a lot of complaints that we had outdated material, you couldn’t find anything, and it’s hard to navigate and the like,” Garvin told the board. The site was “sorely in need updating,” she said.

The new website’s evolution resembles a relay race: A committee started to work out a solution before the pandemic that resulted in a list of recommendations “where we should be going,” said Garvin. A consultant was engaged to create a concept which was followed up by a review by key town officials Finance Director Jennifer Hewitt and the DPW’s Matt Haskell. Recently they passed the baton over to the town’s new Chief Innovative Officer Chris McClure who is tasked to “bring [the new site] over the finish line” where the goal is that it will be “more numble and efficient,” said Garvin.

Before an official launch date, the public will catch glimpse of the new design and features on the website as it is updated.

“At some point soon, we’re going to do some demos and tests,” said Garvin. “We’re very excited about that.”