It’s not quite Game of Thrones but viewers of Port Moody council and committee of the whole meetings will still be able to get their video fix when those meetings resume in September.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, council approved the expenditure of $1,591 to pay for staff at the Inlet Theatre to operate the video equipment to get the 10 meetings that remain this year to air — or at least to the internet, as Shaw Television will no longer be producing and broadcasting the meetings on its community channel as of Aug. 15.
In April, Shaw advised the city it would be winding down its commitment to provide coverage of council meetings in a number of communities so it could divert about $10 million to its news-gathering operations in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.
While the city installed a digital camera recording and streaming system in 2014 in Inlet Theatre, where council meetings are held, Shaw video technicians operated it and were also contracted to cover committee of the whole meetings or other notable meetings. Those meetings are streamed live to the internet and then indexed and archived on the city’s website for later viewing.
A report to council said while the equipment can simply be turned on to provide a static, wide-angle shot of a meeting, the use of a technician allows for better production values, including the switching of cameras so speakers can be seen from the front, and framing speakers to highlight them. It recommended training theatre staff to operate the equipment.
“The overall quality of the video stream is more pleasing and enjoyable to view,” the report stated.
In 2016, the city spent $1,096 to provide additional coverage of meetings beyond Shaw’s commitment.
Devin Jain, Port Moody’s manager of cultural services, estimated in the report it will cost almost $5,100 to staff coverage of 21 council meetings and 11 committee of the whole meetings over the course of a year.
Council directed the city’s finance committee to find a source for funding the continuing webcasts and to incorporate that funding into the budget process for the next four years.
The cities of Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam already webcast their council meetings, with the latter also webcasting its committee meetings.
