Arnold City Council members will be asked next month to approve funding to update the city’s website, arnoldmo.org.
City Administrator Anthony Traxler said the update is needed because the last time the website was revamped was 14 years ago, and the city needs to make the website ADA compliant.
“Due to outdated software components, the site no longer functions properly on smartphones and tablets, which are now the primary devices used to access our content,” he said. “In addition, much of the site’s content is outdated, difficult to access and the current interface does not allow city staff to easily make updates or add new materials such as events, meeting minutes or agendas. As a result, we rely on our web provider for even basic changes, which is both costly and inefficient.
“The most pressing reason for updating our website is compliance with a Department of Justice mandate issued in April 2024. This rule requires that all website content, mobile applications and social media content for municipalities with populations under 50,000 meet ADA Title II accessibility standards by April 26, 2027.”
Traxler said council members will be asked at either the April 2 or April 16 meeting to approve a budget adjustment to make the money available for the project. The City Council typically holds meetings at 7 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month at City Hall, 2101 Jeffco Blvd.
He told council members about the staff requesting the proposed budget adjustments near the end of the March 19 City Council meeting.
On March 20, Traxler said he did not have an estimated cost for the project. He said the city will seek bids, and he hopes the process to update the site will start this summer.
“We have time, but I would rather get started on this to make sure we get everything,” he said. “We will have to bring existing content up to current regulations. It will be a complete rewrite because the system is so old and antiquated.
“There wasn’t anything in the budget, and I didn’t want to wait until September or October to start this. I would rather get started on this sooner rather than later.”
To be ADA compliant, Traxler said, Arnold must develop a comprehensive accessibility plan covering all web content, mobile applications and documents to ensure usability for individuals with visual, auditory and cognitive disabilities.
He said some of the changes will be having documents tagged properly to establish a digital structure that assistive technologies can interpret, and text and images must meet a specific color contrast ratio. Â
He also said all online content must be accessible via keyboard and voice navigation, not solely by mouse, and that videos, including council meetings, will require captions and audio descriptions.
Arnold has started posting recordings of City Council and Planning Commission meetings on its YouTube channel, cityofarnoldmo. Those videos have closed captioning and a transcript available.
“While these requirements are well intentioned, they will be challenging to implement and costly to maintain, particularly for smaller municipalities with limited resources,” Traxler said. “I am currently preparing a request for proposals (RFP) to update our website and associated social media platforms to address these needs.”
In addition to meeting ADA requirements, the website’s links will be updated so people are not being directed to incorrect or outdated information, Traxler said.
“For example, there may be multiple links to the zoning map, and you may pull up an old or outdated version because it is so hard to go through and figure out where these older links are,” he said.
Traxler said the update will make the website more accessible for people who access it through a cell phone or tablet.
“It loses a lot of functionality when you (use the website on a cell phone or tablet) because it is antiquated,” he said.
After the website is redone, Traxler said, city staff will be able to make changes and post information on it. He said Arnold paid $33,881 in the last fiscal year, which ran from Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 31, 2025, to Spire Enterprises to manage and update the website.
“Once the site is updated, the majority of this expense will be eliminated by performing updates in-house,” he said.
During the March 19 meeting, two conditional use permits were approved for businesses after the council members took no action to change recommendations from the Planning Commission; a request to divide a piece of property into two sections was approved; and the council members approved renewing a software contract and an emergency expenditure to repair the boiler at City Hall.
The three votes for the property change and two expenditures were 7-0. Ward 1 Councilman EJ Fleischmann was not at the meeting.
■The U-Pump gas station, 501 Jeffco Blvd., had its conditional use permit approved to restore its gas pumps and canopy after meeting eight conditions. The station’s pumps and canopy were destroyed by a tornado in March 2025, and the station has only been able to reopen its convenience store since the storm.
The Board of Adjustments will have to approve a variance to allow the canopy to be closer than 50 feet from the road before the station installs its new pumps and canopy. The station also will only be allowed to have two pumps instead of four to meet the proper setback requirements, according to city documents.
■Judi’s Place Coffee and Wine Bar, 663 Jeffco Blvd., also had its conditional use permit approved. The business, which is expected to operate as a coffee shop in the morning and bar in the evening, had been approved last year to open at 143 Arnold Crossroads Center.
â– The property that was split into two parts is on Edgemont Drive. It was divided into two lots with one lot having a house on it and the other has no structure on it. However, the owner will be allowed to build a home on the vacant lot.
â– The city renewed its contract with GHA Technologies Inc for the company to continue to supply the Barracuda backup system and cloud storage. The three-year contract is for $10,362, and Traxler said the city has had a contract with GHA Technologies since 2019.
â– Council members ratified paying $25,550 to Harberberger Inc. to repair the boiler in the lower level of City Hall. The St. Louis company replaced two valves that were causing the heat to continuously run. Traxler said the city also paid to have four thermostats replaced and moved to better locations and have ductwork relocated to improve the HVAC systems efficiency in the lower level of City Hall.