Wednesday, March 25, 2026 |
Photo – Town of Medicine Bow home page – Bigfoot99 file photo
Good news for Medicine Bow. Town officials are now able to update the Medicine Bow website with help from a technically skilled maintenance employee.
Last May, Medicine Bow Councilman Lee Cook learned that no town employees were able to update the town’s official webpage, medicinebow.org. The site had been designed years earlier and the current town hall staff did not have the technical ability to modify it.
The Town Council agreed that the website should be updated, noting that it could help share community information with residents and attract visitors. To make the process easier, Councilwoman Crystal Mayfield recommended building an entirely new website using Squarespace or Wix, which she described as user‑friendly design platforms. However, Town Clerk and Treasurer, Karen Heath, said she lacked the skills and experience to take on the project herself.
Instead, Councilwoman Crystal Mayfield suggested partnering with H‑E‑M High School to have students design a new website, offering them real‑world programming experience.
The governing body approved the plan and waited for a response from H‑E‑M business and computer teacher Stephanie Scott, who had initially expressed interest in the idea.
After four months of discussion between Scott and the Carbon County School District Two Board, the town finally received an answer. Speaking at the December 8th, 2025 Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Councilwoman Mayfield said Scott reported that her students did not have the skills to build a website from scratch. She added that even if the students were qualified to handle the project, the school district would most likely require payment.
Following the news, the governing body opted to request bids from local website designers to build a new website. The town received three bids, including one from former Saratoga Museum Director Dana Davis, who created the museum’s website.
Davis submitted a $2,000 bid to rebuild medicinebow.org.
Finding the prices too high, the Medicine Bow Town Council returned to the idea of using a template‑based web design program such as Squarespace or Wix. Councilwoman Mayfield said modern website design is far more straightforward than it was in the past.
During the February 9th Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Heath said she attempted to use one of the design programs but found it too difficult.
The Council voted to table the matter pending further research.
The following month, during the March 9th town council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Heath reported that, with help from Maintenance Operator Taylor Vaughn, she was finally able to access the town’s existing website. Heath said she is now comfortable enough to update the site regularly, though she may still need Vaughn’s assistance.
Heath said she has been able to post the latest Town Council meeting minutes. The treasurer added that she will need additional assistance once the Department of Justice begins requiring state and local government websites to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Under the Department of Justice’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, all government websites have until April 26th, 2027 to provide alternative text for images, meet specific color ratios, ensure all content is fully accessible by keyboard for users who cannot operate a mouse, and include captions for video content and transcripts for audio.
At the March 10th Council meeting, Heath said the town will likely need to hire a professional website designer to meet the government requirements. The clerk-treasurer added that, at this time, she is only able to make small changes to the website. More complex updates will require additional assistance.
Satisfied with the work done by Heath and Maintenance Operator Vaughn, the Medicine Bow Town Council voted to remove the website discussion item from future agendas.
