A Connected City for Markham, Illinois
Website overhaul, resident digital services platform, and communications infrastructure — proposed by Mediacovenant, LLC for the City of Markham under Mayor Roger A. Agpawa.
01 — Community Context
Who Markham Is, and What's at Stake
Before a single page is built, we need to understand who we're building for. Markham is a working community. Its residents depend on city government for practical answers — not just for information, but for action. The digital infrastructure should reflect that reality with the same sophistication and care as any well-resourced municipality in the region.
Population
~11,355 residents across 5.2 sq mi. A dense urban community with high household interaction with city services — building permits, public works, council communications, and more.
Demographics
70.4% Black, 17.8% Hispanic/Latino. A majority-minority city that deserves digital infrastructure that reflects and serves its community with equity and sophistication.
Median Income
~$57,302 household / ~$25,756 per capita. With 17.9% of families in poverty, friction in accessing city services has real consequences. The digital front door must open easily.
Current Platform
CivicPlus (cityofmarkham.net) — functional but dated. Limited customization, generic design, no integrated CRM, and shallow form logic that the administrator confirmed did not meet their full needs.
"The website should aid residents for the things they need to have and be informed by their city."— City Administrator, City of Markham
02 — Problem Identification
What's Not Working Right Now
Based on the administrator's feedback and a full audit of the current cityofmarkham.net site, these are the primary gaps the new platform must solve. Each gap represents a real cost — in resident trust, staff time, and service quality.
📋 Forms Are Static PDFs
Service requests, permits, and FOIA requests involve manual download/print workflows with no digital tracking or confirmation. Residents have no way to know if their submission was received.
📅 Board Notices Are Buried
Meeting agendas, minutes, and public notices require navigating multiple pages. No alert or subscription system exists to deliver updates directly to residents.
🚧 Public Works Is Reactive
Garbage pickup schedules, road closures, and infrastructure notices require residents to call or visit City Hall. No mass notification system or service-status page exists.
📱 Poor Mobile Experience
High mobile usage among Markham's demographic — but the current site has a clunky mobile experience with no resident portal or one-click service access.
🔔 No Communications Channel
No email list, no SMS alerts, no community newsletter. Residents have no reliable way to stay connected, and the city has no way to reach residents en masse without traditional media.
📊 No Data or Analytics
City staff have no visibility into what residents search for, which forms are abandoned, or which pages drive the most traffic. There is no feedback loop to improve services over time.
03 — Platform Landscape
The Competitive Field — and Why Mediacovenant/High Level Wins
The municipal digital market is dominated by enterprise-tier vendors that sell municipalities on credentialing, compliance, and scale — then lock them into multi-year contracts they can never fully exit. Here's how the landscape stacks up, and where Mediacovenant/High Level finds its decisive edge.
Mediacovenant/High Level Wins… Benefits
All-in-One — Not a Suite of Bills
CivicPlus charges separately for websites, agenda management, notifications, and forms. Mediacovenant/High Level delivers all of this under a single monthly retainer — with Mediacovenant as your dedicated account team.
Automation Competitors Can't Match
Smart forms that route to city staff pipelines, auto-confirm service requests via SMS, and trigger follow-up sequences — without requiring an IT department or a Salesforce-sized budget.
A Local Partner with Skin in the Game
CivicPlus is headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas. Granicus is in Denver. Mediacovenant is in the Chicago Southland — we know this corridor, these residents, and what digital equity looks like here.
04 — Site Audit
Current State of cityofmarkham.net
A rapid audit of the current CivicPlus-powered site reveals the platform's functional floor — and its ceiling. Across twelve key dimensions, the site falls short of what Markham residents need and what modern municipal platforms deliver as standard. The findings below are drawn from direct review of the live site and administrator input.
06 — draft - Implementation Roadmap
From First Meeting to Launch
The Connected City tier (recommended) is built across four structured phases over 8–10 weeks from signed agreement. Each phase has a defined deliverable and a clear approval gate, ensuring the Mayor, city administrator, and department heads remain in control of the process at every step.
1
Week 1–2
Discovery & Strategy — Meet with Mayor Agpawa, city administrator, and department heads. Map all resident touchpoints, service workflows, and form/notice needs. Confirm scope and brand direction.
2
Week 2–4
Brand & Wireframe — Develop City of Markham brand refresh (colors, typography, voice). Build full-site wireframe for review and present to Mayor and administrator for approval before build begins.
3
Week 4–7
Platform Build — Build site in Mediacovenant/High Level using approved wireframe. Configure smart forms, pipelines, notification automations, calendar, and analytics. Migrate existing content. Staff CMS training.
4
Week 8–10
QA, Compliance & Launch — Full WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility review, mobile QA, cross-browser testing, and form pipeline testing with city staff. Final approval, DNS transfer, and public launch.
07 — Platform Architecture
The Connected City: 12-Page Site Architecture
The Mediacovenant/High Level build for Markham is structured around resident intent — not departmental org charts. Every page is designed to answer a specific question or complete a specific task. Below is the full site architecture for the Connected City tier, covering all 12 pages and their core functions.
1
Home
Full-width hero, quick-access tiles (Pay Bills / Submit a Request / View Meetings / Get Alerts), news ticker, department shortcuts, emergency contacts footer.
2
Resident Services Hub
Master service directory filterable by department. Each service card links to its smart form. Status indicators for active requests when resident is logged in.
3
Submit a Request
Smart form with conditional logic by department. Auto-confirm via SMS + email on submission. Routes to correct department pipeline in Mediacovenant/High Level CRM.
4
News & Announcements
Blog-style news feed filtered by category. Each post includes featured image, author department, publish date, and social share. Email opt-in embedded.
5
Government / City Council
Mayor bio and photo. Council members with ward, photo, and email. City Administrator contact. Boards and commissions listing. Ward map embed.
6
Meetings & Public Notices
Upcoming meetings calendar. Each entry includes agenda PDF, minutes PDF post-meeting. Auto-email notice to subscribers 72 hours before each meeting. FOIA link in sidebar.
1
Departments
Grid of city departments with icons. Each card links to sub-page with staff contacts, hours, and relevant forms. Covers Building, Clerk, Finance, Police, Public Works, and Streets & Sanitation.
2
Public Works
Garbage and recycling schedule lookup by address. Pothole/street repair request form. Street closures, water service info, and emergency utility contacts.
3
Building Permits & Zoning
Permit types list with requirements checklist. Online permit intake form with conditional logic. Application status check by permit number. Zoning map embed.
4
Community Resources
Curated directory of community services: health clinics, food pantries, housing assistance, mental health, youth programs, senior services, and Pace transit routes.
5
Economic Development
Business resources and city investment highlights. TIF district information. Business license information and link to form. Grant and incentive summary for prospective investors.
6
Contact / City Hall
Department contact directory with search. General contact form routing by department selection. Interactive Google Maps embed. Hours of operation, emergency contacts, and social media links.
Ready to Build a Connected Markham
This proposal was prepared exclusively and confidentially for the City of Markham, Illinois. Mediacovenant is ready to begin the Discovery & Strategy session upon agreement — bringing the expertise, platform, and local commitment that Markham's residents deserve from their city's digital front door.
Prepared by Mediacovenant, LLC · Chicago Southland · mediacovenant.com
Confidential — Prepared exclusively for the City of Markham, Illinois · June 2026