The new Corporation of Shepherdstown website features photographs taken by Shepherdstown resident Michael Chalmers. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — This week, the Corporation of Shepherdstown launched a new and improved website at www.shepherdstown.gov.

About half a dozen volunteers worked together on an ad hoc committee under Mayor James Gatz, to replace the former website with a visually appealing, one-stop-shop for information about the municipality.

“The website that had been there for years really needed an update. That’s the way websites are — they’re not static. You’ve got to keep them going and keep adding to them,” Gatz said. “I think a lot of people, including me, had a time maneuvering through that website.

“I’m sure that when the old website was put up, it was state-of-the-art and everything was great. But things have gotten better since then, in terms of how websites work and what’s possible with the technology,” Gatz said. “It was time to update it. The previous mayor and council had worked on this project a lot, but we picked it up from where they had left it and made it even better!”

Shepherdstown resident Deb Tucker served as the chair of the ad hoc committee, as she had extensive professional experience with website development. She said that the previous administration’s plans for the website were to migrate the old website’s information into a new format. However, she and her fellow volunteers decided to improve on that idea, by using input from local residents on what they would like to see in the website.

“We developed the website to provide all of the information on the town that residents, businesses and visitors could need,” Tucker said, mentioning the photos on the website were all taken by Shepherdstown resident Michael Chalmers. “It’s a clear, modern look, with multiple ways to navigate to find information.”

Forms that would previously need to be picked up at Town Hall can now be printed off directly from the website and, in the future, will likely be updated so that they can be filled out and submitted online.

“We centralized the library of forms, including references to specific town ordinances,” Tucker said. “We tried to make it clear on the website, as to who to contact and how to contact them, for different town services that are needed.”

The website also includes a number of other useful new features, Tucker said.

Utility bills and police department fines can now be paid on the municipality’s website.

Parking-related needs can be addressed on the site, such as where to park in town and how to get parking passes.

People can now report issues in town and, if desired, submit anonymous tips to the Shepherdstown Police Department via the website.

Those wanting to become more engaged with the community can find lists of volunteering opportunities and an events calendar via the website.

“This new website was created to aid in transparency from the town and to let people know more about what was happening in town government. But with all of the services that the town provides, we also wanted to provide people with a platform that would give them easy access about those services,” Gatz said.

“I think of the town’s website as a place that symbolizes the town, for people who are not here, who are looking around for places to visit,” Gatz said. “It’s the first place where some people may find out about Shepherdstown, so it’s very important that it presents our town as the very cool place that it is!”