| | Published February 26th, 2014
| Moraga Council Steps (Almost) into 21st Century
| | By Sophie Braccini | | |
Watching a Town Council meeting from the comfort and privacy of your home, maybe with a glass of Chardonnay by your side, is a patriot's dream about to come true in Moraga - as long as you're not in too much of a hurry. On Feb.15, the Moraga Town Council approved the purchase of an audio-visual system for the soon to be completed council chamber at 331 Rheem Blvd. that will enable the town to broadcast public meetings.
The first delay is temporary - the retrofit of 331 Rheem Blvd. is not quite finished and some electrical work needs to be done before the system can be installed. Town manager Jill Keimach predicts that the first meetings will be held, and recorded, in the new council chamber before the end of the year.
Those who want to see the action as it unfolds will still have to attend the meetings in person; the initial system does not include the creation of a Moraga channel that would broadcast live streaming. "We thought about it," said Keimach, "but the problem would be to populate (the channel) between meetings." The solution is to use Contra Costa TV, but that's shared by several jurisdictions and is unavailable at the time the Town Council meets. "The meetings will be available to be viewed online and on TV within 24 to 48 hours," promises Keimach. A live Internet stream is possible but, due to the additional cost, would be used only in an emergency.
"Silicon Connections, LLC will design, furnish, install and provide training on a complete audio-visual and IT system for the Town of Moraga Council Chambers," said its principal, Mark Dahlen, during the meeting. Keimach reminded the Town Council that video recording of council meetings, intended to increase transparency in local government, has been on the agenda since 2006. "But to make this happen, the town needed to have its own meeting room where the equipment can be permanently installed," she said.
The equipment purchased for $165,000 includes three high definition remote controlled cameras with production switcher for live event recording, three high definition wall-mounted displays, switchable to view sources including table/podium mounted laptop connection stations, two computer sources, one document camera, Apple Air-Play devices and DVD/Blu-Ray sources, and four assisted hearing devices with multiple microphone inputs. Silicon Connection will set up the control room with a production desk outfitted with camera and video production-editing capabilities.
"We get $35,000 a year of grant money from Comcast that we have never spent and that will cover the capital cost," explained Keimach. "We'll recruit interns to operate the cameras during the meetings," she added, noting that the Planning, Design Review and Parks and Recreation meetings could also be recorded.
Because 331 Rheem Blvd. is outfitted with a power generator and batteries for uninterrupted electricity, the system will also be useful in a disaster. "In case of an emergency, all you have to do is to push the 'EOC' button to put the system in the emergency command center mode," explained Dahlen. "Monitors will come up and you can select which information channel you want to monitor. The guest Wi-Fi Internet will be accessible to anyone flowing into the room, accessed from a laptop or one of the two onsite computers. The EOC system also supports live broadcast to the Internet for public announcements," at an additional cost that would be marginal in the context of an emergency.
Since the new council chamber will have Wi-Fi, Councilmember Mike Metcalf asked about going paperless during meetings. "I can just use my computer during the meeting and will not have to carry all the pages of the packet," he suggested. Keimach said the idea is possible, but to go completely paperless the town would need to acquire software that would allow council members to annotate reports online.
Metcalf also asked about remote display of the meeting in a larger facility, such as the nearby Rheem Theatre, in case more residents are expected to attend a meeting than will fit into the council chamber, which has a capacity of 60. "You can do that anywhere that has an internet connection," confirmed Dahlen. "All you need is a projector and a small decoder. Sending the video and audio somewhere else is very easy."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA