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Brooklyn Center City Council to be Broadcast Live Online
August 28, 2008
Starting Monday, Sept. 8, live Brooklyn Center City Council meetings will be only a click of the mouse away.
The city plans to begin broadcasting council meetings live via the Internet with that night's meeting at 7 p.m.
An archive of previous meetings will also be available online for one year - starting with the Sept. 8 meeting.
City Council meetings will still be broadcast on Brooklyn Center's local cable channel as well.
According to a presentation provided to the council during an Aug. 25 work session, city staff members have been working with the Northwest Suburbs Cable Communications Commission (NWSCC) and its member cities to acquire a contract with Granicus, Inc. - a provider of webcasting solutions for local government agencies.
That partnership is allowing the webstreaming concept to move forward.
Visitors will click on a link on the Brooklyn Center city website at www.cityofbrooklyncenter.org to access a live City Council meeting or archived meeting. That will take users to the NWSCC website, which is where council meetings will be accessed. Windows Media Player will be required to view the meetings over an Internet connection and meetings will be searchable by agenda item.
"It is really straightforward and really easy," Brooklyn Center IT Director Patty Hartwig said. "It is changing how we deliver our services to the community."
Brooklyn Center and Crystal are the first cities in the Northwest Suburbs Cable Communications Commission to implement the technology. Brooklyn Park, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale hope to be webstreaming their council meetings by the end of the year.
According to Hartwig, Brooklyn Center has been researching the concept for several years and found that partnering with the member cities in the Northwest Suburbs Cable Communications Commission would be more cost effective - saving 25 to 30 percent - than going it alone. By working with NWSCC, no general city fund dollars being are being used for the project.
According to a memo to the council from city staff, it is anticipated the city will be able to reduce costs of responding to incoming requests for City Council meeting information. The new service is also expected to provide website visitors a "quick turnaround time for information and 24/7 access," according to the memo.
"Webcasting is an alternative method to disseminate information to residents, property owners and business operators who cannot attend the meeting," the memo stated. "Through web technology, we are finding cost effective methods to get critical information to the public and improve customer service in a time of fiscal constraint."
During the council work session Aug. 25, Mayor Tim Willson questioned whether archiving meetings beyond a year would be an option.
Hartwig said that's possible, but the method was still under discussion.
This story was posted here on Aug. 26. It will also appear in the Sept. 4 print edition of the Brooklyn Center Sun-Post.
During the council work session Aug. 25, Mayor Tim Willson questioned whether archiving meetings beyond a year would be an option.
Hartwig said that's possible, but the method was still under discussion.
This story was posted here on Aug. 26. It will also appear in the Sept. 4 print edition of the Brooklyn Center Sun-Post.
Wendy Erlien
http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2008/08/28/local_news_update/bc04webstreaming.txt
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