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Video Of Council Meetings Now Available At Township Website
By Catherine Galioto
Anyone who wants a peek into Brick Township government will have a new window to peer through. The township will now offer video of all township council meetings online at the official township website
Viewers can click the meeting they want to view from any computer at any time. Brick Township is the first community in New Jersey to offer the service.
San Francisco-based Granicus, Inc. is in charge of uploading and maintaining the service on the township's website, www.bricktownship.net.
Officials inked the deal months ago, and the township, Granicus and the contracted videographer worked to iron out specifics on how to get the content to the site.
This service means that anyone in the world can watch what Brick Township government does.
The other options are to be a resident and watch the televised meetings during scheduled times on Comcast channel B-20, or to come to a meeting in person.
"Our partnership with Brick Township helps expand traditional communication beyond one-way channels - providing citizens with quick and convenient access to local government anywhere, anytime," said Sal Baglio, Granicus' Northeastern Regional Director. "The Brick solution represents the best way to see government in action - through the integrated public record - which combines legislative documents, voice and video."
Besides the accessibility, officials applauded the service as a means to open government.
"This Council has made open and transparent government a top priority. We started televising council meetings and have worked to increase public input and involvement in government," Council President Stephen Acropolis said in a prepared statement. "Making council meetings available on the internet is another example of these ongoing efforts."
Brick township contracted Granicus' service at a cost topping $10,000: $9,640 in startup costs and $684 a month for storage and distribution management, proactive support, 24/7 system monitoring and continuous software upgrades.
The road to putting the meetings online met a delay; the township was briefly paying for a service although it was not yet available. Everything was hooked up, but waiting the actual videos to be handed over. While the township figured out how to make its content compatible, it had to pay the monthly bill, officials said.
Now the backlog of meetings is up. Future public meetings will go up too, and Granicus said the turnaround will be much faster then television's scheduled airings allow. With the website, the streaming video of meetings might even be up the same night as the meeting itself.
The most recent public meetings from July and August are now available online and in the future, all 2007 meetings will be available as they take place. The council hopes the meetings of the planning and zoning boards may one day be broadcast too.
"We are getting a great return for our investment," said Council Vice-President Ruthanne Scaturro. "You can't put a price on good government and giving residents more opportunities to watch their government at work is good government."
This service gives residents who do not subscribe to Comcast the opportunity to view the meetings.
"I have spoken with numerous residents who could not view council meetings on television since they were not Comcast subscribers," Acropolis said. "Those residents will now have that opportunity."
To access the council meeting archive on the internet, visit www.bricktownship.net, click on Resources and then click on the link for BTV. In addition to the council meetings, residents can also watch a live feed of the municipal access station, BTV.
The Brick Township Council meets on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. at the Brick Township Municipal Building. Beginning September 18, the council will meet weekly and alternate between caucus and public meetings. Public meetings are televised on BTV on Thursday evenings at 8 p.m., Friday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m.
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