Milton to stream council meetings

MILTON— In late March, the city of Milton began exploring options for recording council meetings and streaming them live on the city’s website.

According to Brian Watkins, the city manager, Milton staffers struggled to make the plan a reality. Equipment the city bought would not connect to the website, rendering it useless.

“The original issues were that the streaming device that was originally installed was defective,” Watkins said. “The company, All-Pro Sound, came out with a replacement, but that too was a defective device.  So the city decided to have All-Pro Sound come up with a more reliable solution and that is where they came up with two choices.”

According to Watkins, the city could either pay a one-time fee of $1,000 for new equipment from All-Pro that will connect to the website and show two different views: the council and the podium where people stand to speak; or the city could pay a one-time fee of $3,500 for equipment that would connect to the website and show four different views: the council, podium, the agenda projector screen and the screen that shows the council’s votes.

Watkins said that the city decided to still use All-Pro because it is the same company that installed all of the microphone and audio equipment for the city, therefore ensuring that the audio would work seamlessly with the video.

At the June 22 Committee of the Whole meeting, the council voted on how to proceed. Councilman Casey Powell made a motion to go with the more expensive option with the four-screen view; Councilwoman Peggi Smith seconded the motion, and the motion passed with all council members in favor.

“The city is waiting on the ordering of the equipment and the scheduling of the installation and training for the new system,” Watkins said. “The estimated date is sometime in the first or second week of July.”

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton to stream council meetings