CHRISTIANSBURG -- Though the development of the town's new Web site has faced some setbacks, it is now expected to launch in January.

The site was originally supposed to be up and running in October but has faced delays because of the enormity of the task, said Vice Mayor Brad Stipes.

"It's a bigger undertaking than we were expecting. We've never done anything like this before," said Stipes, who is also a member of the Web site committee.

Stipes said he has spoken with other localities that have built similar sites and was reassured that these types of delays are normal.

The committee embarked on the project of developing a new Web site in earnest in April. Christiansburg Town Council allocated a $40,000 budget to build and launch the site, with a recurring annual budget of $6,000 to go toward maintenance.

Civic Plus was hired to build the Web site because of its experience in building sites for other governments.

In addition to Stipes, the committee responsible for working with Civic Plus consists of Mayor Richard Ballengee, town planner Nichole Hair, assistant to the town manager Adam Carpenetti and town resident Kimberly Weitkamp.

The committee gathered Monday for a meeting that lasted three hours, where they analyzed what progress has been made and developed a game plan for meeting the launch date.

"It was more or less a meeting to determine where we are and how far we have come," Ballengee said.

He described progress as "slow, but good" and said the committee is "better than halfway" finished with the site.

The hardest part about building the site, Ballengee said, is gathering information from the different aspects of the town, writing text to accompany it and providing links to make transitions flow easily.

Stipes said the site will focus on five main areas: residents, existing and potential businesses, visitors, town government and town departments.

"Once the site is launched and updated, it's going to greatly enhance the availability of useful information about town business," he said.

Though two months from being completed, the prototype for the Web site allows more user interaction and is visually more advanced than the current site at christiansburg.org.

The drop-down menus for the five areas of focus allow the user to access information such as utility rates and fees, planning and zoning applications, hotels and restaurants, the town code and comprehensive plan and the various departments and commissions.

Stipes calls the new Web site a "huge improvement" and said "it's going to enhance people's ability to see and understand what's going on in the town."

One can notice the increase in accessibility just by browsing the prototype. For example, the current site lists e-mail addresses only for certain staff, but the new site lists their direct phone numbers as Ballengee said an increase in information is the main aspect that separates the new site from the old one.

"Our old Web site is good, but it didn't have enough on it. It wasn't as attractive as we wanted it to be. We think this one is an attention getter," he said.

Stipes said the town's commitment to the new Web site extends further than just getting it to launch. The committee plans to update the site frequently.

When the site is active, users will be able to sign up for e-notifications to receive information such as meeting notices and agendas, recreation programs and holiday closings. While it won't be available at launch, the town also plans to offer electronic bill paying via the Web site.