Waynesville takes initial step toward live streaming meetings

Feb. 3—Waynesville is embracing the digital era by upgrading the technology for its town board meeting room, a move that will give the public a better window on the town's proceedings.

The upgrades include cameras, speakers and television monitors that will have the capability to stream town board meetings on the internet, as well as to overflow crowds.

"If we have 150 people here upset about masks or vaccines as we have in the past, and we can't accommodate that large of a crowd inside the boardroom, this would allow people on the mezzanine to see and hear what is going on," said Assistant Town Manager Jesse Fowler.

Some town board members have long advocated for streaming the town's meetings so those who can't attend in person can still follow what their elected officials are up to. But the boardroom lacked a camera set-up.

The idea gained traction following a series of packed town meetings in the fall of 2020 over a town-wide mask mandate. Those relegated to overflow holding areas gathered around a jerry-rigged speaker, straining to hear piped audio of the meeting from the other side of closed doors.

The new system will be able to broadcast the meeting proceedings over closed-circuit televisions to the overflow area. Two cameras mounted inside the boardroom can be controlled by remotes, allowing an operator to adjust camera angles to focus on whoever is speaking.

The technology upgrades will make it easier for the public to follow along from inside the meeting chambers, as well. Often, presenters have digital slide shows to share during meetings.

But there's only one television mounted in the boardroom, leaving less than desirable viewing angles as it can't be turned toward both the board and the audience at the same time.

The upgrade will place a bank of monitors in front of each board member, along with a new television that will face the audience.

The set-up will also allow presenters to interact with the board remotely. Currently, if the town board wants to speak with a consultant on a project who lives elsewhere, they are patched in on speaker phone — arguably a dated method in today's digital era. The new system will allow presenters to connect remotely with video conference.

"Presenters will be able to remote in to our system in order to give their presentations," Fowler said.

The top benefit to the public would be live streaming the town's meetings for those who can't attend in person. But doing so would require a separate decision point.

"Internet streaming would have to be approved by the board of aldermen at a later date. Staff will not stream public meetings without the direction of the board of aldermen," Fowler said.

Currently, the only local government entities in Haywood that live stream their meetings are the Haywood County commissioners and Haywood County school board.

The cost of the equipment and installation is $67,000, with the contract going to Carolina Technologies.