Township council has taken a step toward having council meetings available on video beginning with the next term of council.
A staff report recommending the purchase of meeting management and video software was approved by council on May 22.
The report from CAO Manny Baron notes council has shown interest in having council meetings recorded so that members of the public can view proceedings without attending.
“This would add a level of transparency to our council meetings which is generally supported by most municipalities in Ontario and Canada,” stated Baron in the report.
The report recommends the purchase of ICompass Meeting Manager Pro and Video Manager HD software at a combined cost of $12,200, which would come from the 2019 operating budget if approved.
Councillor Michael Martin, who originally suggested council arrange for video recording of council meetings in October of 2015, said he was pleased to see the inclusion of a system to manage meeting agendas and information as part of the package.
“Fairly time consuming to prepare agendas and the time to prepare for these meetings can take away from day-to-day activities,” said Martin. “So it’s nice to see that maybe we can kill two birds with one stone and have a software program that’s both user-friendly and easy to use and incorporate, while providing an additional service to the public in terms of transparency.”
Some features of the recommended systems include:
– faster and more efficient agenda item submission;
– improved transparency by providing easy access to public meeting information with indexed video; and
– easy access on iPads or PCs by members of council and staff.
The report recommends purchase of the system to be implemented with the term of the next council. It would be installed if approved by the new council.
