Come mid-October, Christiansburg residents should be able to log on to their computers and call up a new town Web site.

Adam Carpenetti said the town recently signed a $28,500 contract with Civic Plus, a Kansas-based company specializing in designing government Web sites.

"I definitely think we'll have a good Web site to share with people," Carpenetti said. "We definitely did our homework on it."

Carpenetti, a Radford University computer science graduate who was hired as an assistant to the town manager 16 months ago, has been working with a committee of four to get the Web site project moving. Town Councilman Brad Stipes started the push last year and his excitement has only grown since Civic Plus was selected to design the site from 16 proposals.

Civic Plus, a division of Icon Enterprises Inc., was founded in 1994 and has designed Web sites for more than 380 cities, schools, counties and other organizations, according to its Web site. Municipalities the company has served range from St. Paul, Minn., with a population of more than 273,000 to Wellington, Ohio, with only 5,000.

When the committee started considering the new Web site, Carpenetti said his vision was to create "a 24-hour town hall."

"Technology is what runs the town," Carpenetti noted. "It always needs to be in optimal shape."

Stipes said he had three goals in mind at the onset of the project. He wanted a Web site that sold itself to residents, to business and to visitors.

Both Stipes and Carpenetti said they expect the new Web site will have up-to-date calendars with announcements about public meetings, community events, public works activities, recreational happenings, business services and volunteer service opportunities.

"I think the highlights on the Web site will be to more openly and actively sell what the town government is doing, how we're doing it and how people can participate," Stipes said.

In the past months, the town has come under fire for failure to follow Freedom of Information Act requirements for posting notice of public meetings. The town administration also has been criticized for making it difficult to access public documents such as the town code, which is currently available only by going to the town hall and requesting it.

Stipes said once the new site is up and running, maintenance will be a priority.

Carpenetti said the town's contract with Civic Plus is for contract management, Web site design, testing, training and "pretty much everything from start to finish."

"I did request on-site training to make sure other people are trained, as well as me," he noted. "I'm trying to push for a person from every department to be able to update their department online. Right now, someone has to e-mail me and I have to post it."

Saving steps in the process will save time, Carpenetti noted. With residents able to access public documents electronically, that will save on copying fees and time involved in preparation.

Stipes, who had requested up to $40,000 for the project when it was brought before the council, said the price is right, too.

"We're well within our budget, which is exciting," he said.

On the Net: christiansburg.org