Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport's Web site will be redesigned and upgraded under a contract approved Monday that authorizes spending up to $96,200.
The Kenton County Airport Board of Directors approved a contract with Strata-G Communications Inc. of downtown Cincinnati to provide the consulting services needed to redesign the Web site.
The job will include reworking it in a more administratively friendly way so that airport managers can easily update information at the site rather than have to work through Strata-G and so that an online, real-time flight tracking feature can be accommodated.
"It would be more marketing oriented and with better branding overall." Nancy Beil, chairwoman of the board's marketing/ communications committee, told the board.
The board approved the expenditure, which will come from the airport's maintenance and operations budget, contingent on the airport owning the graphic designs and code produced by the consultant.
More than one million visitors come to the airport's Web site at www.cvgairport.com each year. With the changes envisioned, airport personnel plan to use the Web site not only as a source of information for travelers and to promote services and shopping, but also to post job openings, bid specifications and items of interest to those seeking to do business with the airport.
In other business, the board approved the issuance of bonds that will pay off three sets of older bonds and, because of more favorable bond rates currently, result in an estimated $4 million in savings.
Lawson Walker II, chairman of the board's finance committee, said the decision to refund the bonds and combine the debt into a new issue was like one homeowners make refinancing a home mortgage when interest rates fall.
Robert F. Holscher, the airport's executive director, also reported to board members that the airport recently underwent an extensive certification review by the Federal Aviation Administration in which all airport operations were evaluated and earned a "safety mark of distinction."
