A special Ways & Means Committee meeting was held Monday evening to review a quote for livestreaming equipment in the Council Chambers at City Hall. A special meeting was required because the proposal is to use the remaining CARES Act funds for the equipment, and the last scheduled meeting before the City of Crookston must return its funding to the state is on Monday, November 9.
The quote for $22,433.05 includes three cameras and equipment, a joystick, and other necessary hard and software for the City of Crookston to livestream its meetings online and on Channel 3. The equipment is HD, which means the best signal will be available online when streaming. The signal will be less clear because even those the cameras will record in HD, Channel 3 can only carry the lower-quality standard definition signal.
Councilman Steve Erickson said the livestreaming system helps the council get where it wants to go. “It’s going to be good for transparency,” said Erickson. “We’re told it’s not going to be great on Channel 3, but maybe something we can work on in the future. But it will be on the internet, YouTube or whatever, and people can watch it live. I think it’s a great addition to where we want to go as a council to be more transparent and get everybody to be able to watch and see what goes on.”
A year ago, the committee rejected a similar quote because of the price tag. Erickson said the CARES money being less local taxpayer dollars probably helped the committee’s decision. “I think that had a lot to do with it,” said Erickson. “I know we looked at it the first time the price tag was a little larger than we liked. Now with the CARES money, it’s going to be beneficial for that to pay for where it’s not coming out of taxpayer money so much locally as we would normally.”
The check to cover the equipment, installation, and training will be included in the City of Crookston bills and disbursements at the November 9 City Council meeting.
