New projectors are part of the proposed audiovisual system. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Modernizing Meetings

Cost of communication: council considers $140,000 audiovisual system for chamber

Dec 1, 2020 | 5:23 PM

Prince Albert city council is supportive of a plan to buy new audiovisual equipment for the council chamber, but the price tag has given some of them pause.

The updated system, which will cost up to $140,000, will allow meetings to be live-streamed online and facilitate video and teleconferencing. New video projectors, a new sound system and a control system to simplify queing and voting are also part of the package.

The city’s director of communications, Kiley Bear told the meeting the last major upgrade to the chamber’s current audio system was in 2006.

“In the last 14 years a number of issues have been identified with the current system,” Bear said. “And the COVID-19 situation exposed a number of weaknesses.”

Council meetings have been largely closed to the public since the beginning of the pandemic in March. Starting around the same time, council held a series of meetings that saw half of council attend via teleconference. The set-up led to frustration and miscommunication and ultimately cost $7,000.

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Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp said the new equipment will be especially important given it’s likely almost all councillors will have to self-isolate at some point in the future.

“We don’t want to be in a bad position where we have to decide, ‘am I healthy enough to come sit in this chair or do I not get to vote on an important issue,'” she said.

Meanwhile Coun. Ted Zurakowski said he was supportive of the idea but hesitant about the price.

“How will this affect the lives of our citizens,” he questioned. “This is a playground, this is a splash park in one of our neighbourhoods at this cost.”

Mayor Greg Dionne acknowledged the project was expensive, but saw it as necessary.

“We have to move into 2021…it is costly, but that’s the way technology is,” he said. “We’ve been arguing for years that we want the public to have more access, well this is certainly going to give the public more access.”

City administration is proposing a second phase of the new audio-visual system be funded in 2022. Phase two would include individual desk screens for each councillor, assisted listening devices for attendees who are hearing impaired, and mobile display carts with TV screens. The second phase is estimated to cost an additional $55,000.

Council is expected to give phase one of the new audio-visual system final approval at the next city council meeting on Dec. 14. It will be paid for from a reserve fund.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom