Purchase of video equipment approved

Staff estimate 6-week startup time for video recordings, local channel

LANSDALE >> A local Lansdale TV channel is now just a few weeks away.

Borough council voted Wednesday to approve the purchase of video equipment to record public meetings in council chambers and create a local channel to get the word out about the town.

“For quite a number of years, I have been flipping through the cable channels, and I’ve watched Montgomery Township, and I love to see how their meetings go. I look at Hatfield Township (meeting video), and it gives me a lot of information as to how their meetings are operated,” said Councilman Jack Hansen.

“I wish there was more time for me to go to other meetings, but this gives the general public the opportunity to see our meetings, and see what we’re doing here,” he said.

Video recording of public meetings has been a discussion topic since the borough Communication Commission was established in 2010, and audio recordings of each council meeting have been made and posted online since January 2016. Over the summer, staff secured and council discussed three quotes for video equipment, and council voted 8-1 Wednesday to award the lowest. Staff have said setup is estimated to take roughly six weeks until the channel is up and running.

Councilman Tom Work cast the only vote against buying the video equipment, and said he thought doing so was more of a “want” than a “need” for the borough.

“Why are we really doing this? For what purpose are we going to be videotaping these meetings?” he said.

“We’ve got infrastructure that desperately needs to be repaired in other places. Why are we spending this money on TV, and not to fill potholes?” Work said.

Council President Denton Burnell said he had two reasons for favoring the video setup: the funding to do so came from Lansdale’s franchise agrement with Comcast, and was not diverting

anything out of budgets for infrastructure or other regular expenses.

“The other one is slightly more philosophical,” Burnell said: “We’ve talked an awful lot about openness, and transparency, and access. The question is, how many people do we have to reach for those cameras to make financial sense? Is it one? Is it two? Is it 20?”

Residents may have mobility issues preventing them from attending council meetings in person, or busy schedules during the evening hours when meetings are held, but could stay informed by watching a meeting broadcast late at night or online.

“From my perspective,

I think if it reaches one or two of those people, and it allows more people to be engaged in the process, I think that’s the price of government,” he said.

Borough staff would have the ability to set the schedule, according to Communication Coordinator Tracy Flynn, so other events like educational classes, presentations from the Lansdale Historical Society and video of the borough’s annual fireworks show could, in time, be shown on the channel too.

“As I walk around town, this is not representative of who actually lives in our borough,” said council member Carrie Hawkins Charlton, referring to a

dozen or so regular attendees of council meetings.

“We have the same great residents that come to every meeting, which is awesome, but there’s a lot of people that want to know what’s going on, and want to be informed,” she said.

Council member Mary Fuller said she’s seen talk on social media channels including the “Citizens for the Revitalization of Lansdale” Facebook page from residents who want to get involved and learn more, but can’t come to council meetings due to family or work.

“I think it really straddles the line between ‘need’ and ‘want.’ I do think it is a great service to offer. I hope

people take advantage of it,” Fuller said.

“I know when I was a young parent, there was a day when that was true. I couldn’t make it to school board meetings, but I was interested in what was going on. I would try to watch them on NPTV, and I’m hoping this is the case” with the Lansdale channel, she said.

Lansdale Borough Council next meets at 9 p.m. on Oct. 5, with various committee meetings starting at 7 that night, all at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @ LansdalePA on Twitter.