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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 472-2009 Establishing Regulations for Website.pdfCITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 4ZZ 2009 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS, ADOPTING AN INTERNET WEBSITE POLICY TO ESTABLISH REGULATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, OPERATION, AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CITY'S WEBSITE AND TO ENSURE THAT THE CITY'S WEBSITE REMAINS A NON- PUBLIC FORUM SUBJECT TO THE CITY'S EXCLUSIVE USE AND CONTROL WHEREAS, the City Council ("City Council") of the City of Anna, Texas ("City") has determined that regulations should be established for the development, operation, and administration of the City's Website and to ensure that the City's website remains a non- public forum subject to the City's exclusive use and control, and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the purposes of the City's website are as follows: a. To provide a convenient and information -rich resource for residents, visitors, businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, other public agencies, and to access their City government. b. To provide information and resources that contributes to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of, and visitors to, the City of Anna. c. To contribute to the improvement of City services, foster economic development, and enhance the sense of community within the City. d. To establish and strengthen long-term partnerships between the City and individuals and entities in the public and private sectors where such partnerships further the public health, safety and welfare. e. To provide information about the City and its local services in a manner that is as manageable, efficient, and organized as possible. f. To provide an opportunity and means to supply businesses and individuals contemplating locating or moving to the City with an opportunity to see and hear first hand why persons who call the City home enjoy living there. g. To provide an opportunity and means to create a personalized face for the City to display to citizens, businesses, governmental agencies, or individuals who may have heard about City or are curious about the City but have yet to visit there or meet anyone who calls the City home. h. To provide a visual repository of personalized observations of the City's history, present-day community life and business environment. i. To encourage and generate civil pride and foster a sense of community among its residents. Ord. 472-2009 Establishing Websde regulations.doc Page 1 of 2 10-13-09 j. To provide a readily available image and/or Video pool of real-world spokespersons for City marketing and recruitment materials and purposes. WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that it is in the best interest of the City and its citizens to adopt the Internet Website Policy attached hereto as Exhibit A, which is incorporated by reference here in for all purposes. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS, THAT: Section 1. Recitals Incorporated. The determinations, findings and recitals above are incorporated herein as if set forth in full for all purposes. Section 2. Adoption of Policy. The City hereby adopts the policy attached to this ordinance as Exhibit "K and incorporates by reference herein to be the City of Anna's Internet Website Policy. Section 3. Severability. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City, that sections, paragraphs, clauses, and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any section, paragraph, clause or phrase of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional or illegal by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or illegality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs or sections of this ordinance since the same would have been enacted by the City without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional or illegal section, paragraph, clause or phrase. Section 4. Passage. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage. PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of Anna, Texas this the 13th day of October, 2009. U1111111*13 up 1._l.! ME RUNFA'All W- .. I pi:-6ecnitary, 14�tfia Wilkisord OF is 0W. 472-2009 Establishing Website regutations.doc APPTOVED: 10-13-09 EXHIBIT "A" CITY OF ANNA INTERNET WEBSITE POLICY 1. Purpose. The purpose of the City of Anna Internet Website Policy is to establish regulations for the development, operation, and administration of the City website and to ensure that the City website remains a non-public forum subject to the City's exclusive use and control. The purposes of the City's website are as follows: a. To provide a convenient and information -rich resource for residents, visitors, businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, other public agencies, and to access their City government. b. To provide information and resources that contributes to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of, and visitors to, the City of Anna. c. To contribute to the improvement of City services, foster economic development, and enhance the sense of community within the City. d. To establish and strengthen long-term partnerships between the City and individuals and entities in the public and private sectors where such partnerships further the public health, safety and welfare. e. To provide information about the City and local services in a manner that is as manageable, efficient, and organized as possible. f. To provide an opportunity and means to supply businesses and individuals contemplating locating or moving to the City with an opportunity to see and hear first hand why persons who call the City home enjoy living there. g. To provide an opportunity and means to create a personalized face for the City to display to citizens, businesses, govemmental agencies, or individuals who may have heard about City or are curious about the City but have yet to visit there or meet anyone who calls the City home. h. To provide a visual repository of personalized observations of the City's history, present-day community life and business environment. i. To encourage and generate civil pride and foster a sense of community among its residents. j. To provide a readily available image and/or video pool of real-world spokespersons for City marketing and recruitment materials and purposes. k. To create awareness of and reinforce the City's unique municipal brand. 2. Policy. The City shall operate and maintain the City website as provided in this Policy. 3. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this Policy: a. "City website" means the official City website available at www.annatexas.,qov, www.annatexas,net, and any additional domain name(s) that the City acquires for official City use. b. "Cookies" means files on the users computer that enables a website to recognize the user on subsequent visits and possibly track the user's Internet use between visits. c. "External Website" means a website maintained by a third party, and not by the City. d. "External Link" is a hyperlink from the City website to an External Website. 9. "Security Measures" means practices for protection of physical configuration and environment, software, information -handling processes, and user practices. f. "User" or "Users" means an individual or individuals who access the City webpage through the Internet. 4. Non -Public Forum Status. The City website is a non-public forum. While the City encourages the public to use the City website to access information and resources, the City expressly reserves the right to impose certain restrictions on the use of its website. The City website is reserved for the exclusive control of the City for the purposes of one-way communication to users of the City website. The City website shall not be used to facilitate a general debate, public discourse or the free exchange of ideas. 5. Authority of City Manager. a. The City Manager or his designee shall have the authority and responsibility for the implementation of this Policy. The City Manager may also make interpretations on issues that are not clearly articulated or not included in this Policy, so long as the City Manager's discretion is exercised in a manner consistent with the stated purposes of this Policy. b. This Policy will be posted on the City website for review by the public at any time. c. Questions or comments regarding any subjects or issues addressed in this Policy may be directed to: City of Anna Attn: City Manager P.O. Box 776 Anna, TX 75409 6. Privacy. a. The City is sensitive to the privacy interests of the users of the City website and believes that the protection of those interests is an important responsibility. The City's goal in collecting personal information online is to provide the user with the most personalized and effective service possible. By understanding the user's needs and preferences, the City may provide users With improved service. The City strives to protect online personal information in the same manner that the City protects citizen and business information obtained through other means. The following information explains the City's policy regarding any personal information supplied when using the City website. b. Website Privacy Policy: When you visit the City of Anna Web site, we use automated tools to log information about each visit. We process this information in the aggregate to determine site performance issues, such as popular pages, most frequently downloaded forms, and other site performance characteristics. This information does not identify you personally. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits. c. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to keep information provided over the Internet accurate and up-to-date, the City of Anna does not certify the authenticity or accuracy of such information. No warranties express or implied, are provided for the content, records and/or mapping data herein, or for their use or interpretation by the User. d. The City of Anna, its elected officials, officers, employees, and agents assume no legal responsibilities for the information or accuracy contained in this data, including any action taken from reliance on any information contained herein and shall have no liability for any damages, losses, costs, or expenses, including, but not limited to attorney's fees, arising from the use or misuse of the information provided herein. The Users use thereof shall constitute an agreement by the User to release the City of Anna, its elected officials, officers, employees and agents from such liability. 7. Security. The City Website applies Security Measures to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under the City's control. From time to time, Security Measures may be upgraded or otherwise modified to meet changing needs. While the City endeavors to keep secure all information it receives via the City website, the City cannot guarantee the security of the information. 8. External Links. a. The City has a legitimate interest in limiting persons or organizations that might be linked to the City website. The City may exercise discretion to ensure that the links to the City website are consistent with the purpose of the City website, as set forth in Section 1. Neither the City Website nor the External Links listed on the City website constitute a forum for expressive activity by members of the public. Information or External Links may be excluded from the City website where such additional information or External Links would create visual clutter and disorganization. b. Each proposed External Link on the City website shall be reviewed to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the purpose of the City website. The City Manager or his designee shall review the merits of the proposed External Link based upon the stated purposes of the City website, as set forth above in Section 1.e. A proposal for an External Link will not be denied based solely on the viewpoint espoused by the individual, entity, or the content of the External Website. c. The City website will not provide External Links to websites that: 1. promote or exhibit hate, unlawful discrimination, obscenity, pornography, libel or defamation; ii. have a primary purpose of furthering the agenda of a political organization or a candidate running for office (regardless of the political viewpoint), or defeating any candidate for elective office; iii. violate any of the City's equal opportunity policies or nondiscrimination policies-, iv. consist of personal home pages operated by individuals; or v. are used in whole or part as a public forum to facilitate a general debate, public discourse or the free exchange of ideas. d. The City may provide External Links to certain private commercial sites that maintain and display government -related information which fulfills the purposes of the City website as set forth in Section 1, and which is not generally available through a governmental agency due to the cost of compiling, maintaining and/or displaying such information. To support the cost of compilation and maintenance of this information, these private commercial sites may include advertising or promotional material in the information display. Accordingly, External Links to such sites which contain this information, but also display commercial advertising or promotional material, may be included within the City website when the City Manager or his designee has made a good faith determination that: i. the City's independent replication of the information targeted for linkage is infeasible due to financial or other considerations; ii. no non-commercial site provides the information targeted for linkage; and, iii. the information targeted for linkage greatly enhances the usefulness of the City website and services it provides. e. The City reserves the right to determine how and where External Links will appear on the City website. 9. Application for External Link. To request the addition of an External Link to the City website, the applicant shall send the relevant URL, address, website description and purpose, identity and contact information of the site owners and operators, a brief statement as to how the proposed website fulfills the purpose of the City website as set forth in Section 1. Contact information shall include name, phone number and email address sent to: City of Anna Attn: City Manager P.O. Box 776 Anna, TX 75409 10. Disclaimer of External Links and External Websites. a. The information posted on the City website includes hypertext External Links to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. The City provides these links solely for the user's information and convenience. b. When the user selects an External Link to an External Website, the user leaves the City website and is subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the External Website. r- The City einpq not mnfml nr nijarantee the accuracy relevance- timeliness or f. The City is not responsible for transmissions from External Websites. 12. Links to the City of Anna's Website. Advance permission to link to the City website is not necessary. However, the party linking to the City website should be aware that the City's site construction and subpages may change at any time without notice. Individuals and entities linking to the City website shall not capture pages within frames, present the City website content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent the City website's content or misinform users about the origin or ownership of its content. Any link to the City website should be a full forward link that passes the user's browser to the City website unencumbered. The web browser's "back" button should return the user to the originating site if the user wishes to back out. Information regarding community events may be posted on the City website, so long as the posting of such information is consistent with the purposes of the City website, as set • in Section 1, and meets the criteria for External Links, as set forth in Section 8. While the City Manager or his designee may consider suggestions of events to post on the City website, the decision of the City Manager or his designee is final and binding. 14. Accessibility. The City Website is intended to be accessible to people with disabes. Requests for reasonable accommodations relating to equal access to communication, or other issues relating to City website accessibility, should be directed to: City of Anna Attn: City Manager P.O. Box 776 Anna, TX 75409 15. No Warranty or Representation. The City's web server(s) are maintained to provide public access to City information via the Internet. The City's web services and the content of its web servers and databases are updated on a regular basis. While the City attempts to maintain the City website's information as accurate and timely, the City does not warrant or make representations or endorsements as to the quality, content, accuracy, or completeness of the information, text, graphics, hyperlinks, and other items contained on its server or any other server. Materials on the City website have been compiled from a variety of sources, and are subject to change without notice from the City as a result of updates and corrections. Any user seeking up -to -the -moment information, including but not limited to the content of the The Anna City Code of Ordinances, should contact the City Secretary. To the extent allowed by the Public Information Act and otherwise legally permissible, commercial use of web materials is prohibited without the written permission of the City. All brands, service marks, trademarks, and copyrighted material shown or referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. The City retains copyright on the City's brand, Seal, all text, graphic images, and other content, unless otherwise noted. No person or entity may use the City brand, trademark, Seal, or copyrighted material without approval of the City Council. No person or entity shall engage in any of the following conduct without written permission from the City Manager or his designee: a) modify and or use the text, images or other City website content from a web server, b) distribute the City's web content, and c) "mirror" the City's information on a non -City server. 17. Notice to the City. Communications through the City website, by e-mail or otherwise, shall in no way be deemed to constitute legal notice to the City of Anna or any of its agencies, officers, employees, agents, or representatives, with respect to any existing or potential claim or cause of action against the City or any of its agencies, officers, employees, agents, or representatives. No communication through the City website shall be deemed to constitute legal or official notice for any purpose. 18. Errors, Omissions, Warranty, Damages. The City of Anna is neither responsible nor liable for any viruses or other contamination of a user's system due to access of the City website, nor for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions arising out of the users access of the City website or with respect to the material contained on the City website, including without limitation, any material posted on the City website. The City website and all materials contained on it are distributed and transmitted "as is" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of title or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The City is not responsible for any special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages that may arise from the use of, or the inability to use, the City website and/or the materials contained on the City website, whether the materials contained on the City Website are provided by the City of Anna or a third party. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BY USING THE CITY WEBSITE THE USER AGREES TO DEFEND INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS THE CITY OF ANNA ITS AGENCIES OFFICERS EMPLOYEES REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS FROM AND AGAINST ALL CLAIMS AND EXPENSES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ATTORNEY'S FEES ARISING OUT OF THE USER'S USE OF THE CITY WEBSITE OR MATERIALS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE CITY WEBSITE.