Clayton News Daily

Special photo Lake City is about to launch its first-ever website as early as next week. For years, it has had the distinction of being the only city in Clayton County to not have its own website, but it has been working with Clayton State University students for months to change that.

LAKE CITY — At 61, Lake City may be old, but it can still be hip.

The city, which was founded in 1951, expects to launch its first-ever website as early as next week, according to City Manager Joel Lanken. The site, located at www.lakecityga.net, already has a basic set up, but it currently shows an information box to let residents know the site is under construction.

Although websites are commonly used by many cities to disseminate information to citizens, Lake City has had the distinction of being the only one of the seven cities located at partially in Clayton County to not have an online presence. But, then again, that will change soon enough.

“We expect to launch the website around Oct. 15,” said Lanken. “We have a URL already and right now we’re in the process of building content and graphics for the site.”

Lake City Staff Assistant Timothy Hoyle has been working for months with Clayton State University students Simeon Payne and Courtney Wynn to develop the website, which Hoyle has said will cost less than $1,500.

Its expected features include a place for people to pay traffic tickets, file complaints and read city announcements, city council meeting agendas and minutes. Biographies of Lake City Mayor Willie Oswalt and members of the city council are also expected to be on the website.

Hoyle previously told Clayton News Daily features on the newly opened Lake City Community Center, the National Archives at Atlanta and the Georgia Archives also will likely be included on the site.

Still, Lanken is cautioning residents to give the city time to develop its online presence and that citizens should not expect the website to be an immediate masterpiece.

“It will be a work in progress, so we’ll be tweaking things and working out any kinks as we go along,” said Lanken.