If you haven't

surfed the Fayette County web site lately, you might want to drop in and

check out www.admin.co.fayette.ga.us next time you're online.

The site is

being updated and upgraded, not as a onetime project, but as an ongoing

process, says Marc Rogers of the Information Systems Department.

"We want

to get to where the folks use the web site as an alternative to picking

up the phone," said Rogers, who is working full-time to enhance the

site.

Currently,

Rogers is working to bring a new navigation system online, in which departments

and services will be grouped in logical ways.

For instance,

on the Public Safety Department site are links to Fire and Emergency Services,

the Bureau of Fire Prevention, the Marshal's office, Local Emergency Planning

Committee and the county Animal Shelter.

"This

type of grouping will continue to occur so that users are never more than

a click away form the county's main home page," said Rogers.

"From

the main home page, users can then select a different area to view, such

as the government section, which has information about county departments

and services. The departments' page, which is under the government section,

contains a listing of county departments with a brief description of their

functions as well as contact, address and e-mail information. More departments

will be added to this page," he said.

A new "jump

to" menu also is on the home page, so surfers can scroll down the

list and select a page.

A "news

and information" area now is regularly updated with information about

changes to the web site, county events and links to new additions to the

web site.

Plans are to

soon include an employee directory, with searches by name or by department.

Future plans

include more interactive services, such as on-line payment of water or

tax bills and applications for service.

"We'll

be taking some baby steps to begin with," said Rogers, "like

requests for forms, etc. Ultimately we'll have some kind of bill paying

system."

The overall

goal of the upgrade, Rogers said, "is to provide as much information

to the citizens of Fayette County via the web as possible."

New content

is being added "pretty much on a daily basis," Rogers said,

and your suggestions of what you would like to see on the site are welcome.

If you have

a comment or suggestion, e-mail [email protected] .

There's also

a "mail-to" link at the bottom of the home page.