Brookhaven will soon be officially linked to the rest of theworld through its own Web site.

Ward Six Alderman David Phillips told fellow city officials atTuesday night’s meeting about ideas the Web site committee hadcompiled for the page, which will allow people to pay bills, accesscity documents and follow links to other community projects anddepartments.

“We’ll act as something of a clearinghouse for anything thatgoes on around here when people search for it on the Web,” Phillipssaid.

The domain name will be www.brookhavenms.com.

Phillips said Web designer Jay Perkins, who currently owns thedomain name, is willing to turn over to the city for $200, which isbuilt into the proposal. The initial site will cost $3,000 fordevelopment for up to 15 Web pages and will also be able to hold 20downloadable documents.

There will also be links to sites about city departments andcity officials, as well as providing links to visitor informationand other important information for visitors and newcomers.

The site will cost the city $49 monthly, which will includesoftware installation and updates, one gigabyte of files and up to300 gigabytes of monthly downloads.

Phillips said some ideas for documents citizens can downloadinclude applications for building permits, sign permits, rezoningsand variances. There could also potentially be a contact list ofapproved contractors, schedules of different fees and explanationsof various ordinances.

In addition, Phillips said, part of the vision the committee hasfor the site is that it will portray an attractive, positive andprofessional impression for people searching for Brookhavenonline.

“We felt it was very important that we put forward aprofessional image,” Phillips said. “And this site will have theability to link to the schools, the Chamber of Commerce and otherimportant sites.”

The site will have the capability of being updated by cityemployees through special software, which circumvents the need tosend the information to the Web designer to be added.

“This is going to be an ongoing effort as we figure out whatpeople want to see on the Web site,” Phillips said.

In other business, City Attorney Joe Fernald said he is close tofinishing up a publicity campaign plan to help encourage Brookhavenresidents to spend their money locally.

The campaign, he said, centers around the phrase, “BuildBrookhaven Strong,” which could be used in signs and letterhead andother venues.

“Initially it’s a promotion to keep tax dollars in town, butit’s also a multi-layered campaign, and we plan to take it in aboutfive directions,” said Fernald, who has background experience inmarketing and public relations.

Fernald said he hoped to have something in writing for officialsto look at in the next 10 days or so.