City officials said they've come up with a plan to further increase transparency within the city by launching a new online platform called the Virtual Town Hall. The site aims to engage residents on a variety of topics including the city's budget, council priorities, maintenance projects, development and rumors circulating in the community.

The “Water Cooler Chat” forum is live for residents to share any McKinney related questions or rumors they have heard and would like city administration to address.

“The Virtual Town Hall offers a variety of opportunities for us to gather vital feedback from citizens in a creative way. We will use public input gained through this platform, along with input gathered through other traditional means, to help guide our decision-making process,” City Manager Paul Grimes said in a news release. “We hope this tool will broaden civic engagement and build public trust in the local government.”

The tool is created by Peak Democracy, a nonpartisan company, which will moderate the forum to ensure the discussion stays civil, on topic and within legal bounds.

The platform allows for various engagement options like surveys, polls, priority lists, idea submission and area plans that may be incorporated in the future.

The platform also includes engagement exercises like the area plan portal that allows citizens to place pushpins on a map to give feedback on where they would prefer bike facilities or a new park.

The budget portal invites citizens to allocate funds between categories, and the priority list portal asks citizens to arrange items in order of importance and allows for open-ended comments.

Access the Virtual Town Hall at www.McKinneyTexas.org/ VirtualTownHall.