
DATE: Tuesday, July 1, 1997                 TAG: 9707010265
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHEN KIEHL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   67 lines

PORTSMOUTH EXPANDS ITS HOME ON THE WEB IMPROVED SITE WILL HAVE A LINK TO THE CITY CODE AS WELL AS TOURIST INFORMATION.

When Portsmouth made its debut on the Internet in March, the small site featured photos and a little bit of information on the City Council and local attractions.

It wasn't much compared to the elaborate sites of some Hampton Roads cities, notably Norfolk and Virginia Beach. But it was at least a start.

Soon, though, Portsmouth will catch up with its neighbors when an expanded, completely overhauled site debuts.

The improved Portsmouth Web site, currently under development, will be in three sections: City Hall, including City Council information, job listings and the city code; tourism and attractions, featuring places to stay in Portsmouth, restaurant listings and information on special events; and economic development, which will provide information for businesses considering locating in the city.

The site will be useful for both Portsmouth residents and tourists, said Tom Powell, a microcomputer coordinator for Portsmouth who is developing the site. He added that he hopes to have the site up in several weeks.

``The Internet is a new medium for communication, and we want to communicate with all citizens of Portsmouth,'' he said.

One citizen helped produce the new site. Nancy Lamartin, a self-employed Portsmouth resident who runs computer-based training programs, volunteered her time to go out into the city with her camcorder and shoot footage of city attractions and historic areas. Still shots from her footage are part of the new Web site.

``We have a wonderful old city,'' Lamartin said. ``I wanted to capture that because I really think that people need to know about our downtown.''

Virginia Beach has the most elaborate local site, with detailed information on upcoming events, city services, travel and tourism, and economic development.

``Virginia Beach has the most dynamic site out there,'' Powell said.

When Portsmouth's initial Web site went up in March, Powell said he received considerable e-mail from people who saw the site and wanted more information. About half the e-mail has been from people interested in job openings, he said.

One feature of Portsmouth's new site is that it will include a link to the entire city code, which in book form is 3 1/2 inches thick and 3,872 pages. The site will have a search feature so residents looking for a specific entry can find it quickly.

The Joint Law Library Committee of Portsmouth paid Municipal Code Corp. of Florida $750 to have the code put on the Internet, said City Attorney G. Timothy Oksman. Funding for the project came not from taxpayers but from filing fees for civil lawsuits. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

CITIES ON THE WEB

These are the Internet addresses for the Web sites of South

Hampton Roads cities:

Chesapeake:

http://www.chesapeake.va.us

Norfolk:

http://www.norfolk.va.us

Portsmouth:

http://www.ci.portsmouth.va.us

Suffolk:

http://www.suffolk.va.us

Virginia Beach: