Stouffville council votes to move to video streaming

Estimated cost of the change is between $70,000 to $90,000

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 16, 2021
Simon Martin

Whitchurch-Stouffville council is finally moving to a video stream. The town was the last municipality to adopt video streaming technology in the region.

Stouffville currently provides a live audio stream of council meetings through its website for residents. Audio recordings of past meeting are available to listen to.

According to a staff report, much of the audio/visual system in council chambers is out of date and an upgrade to a digital platform is necessary.

The estimated cost for the project is between $70,000 to $90,000, according to town staff. The cost includes upgrades to the audio/visual system in council chambers and installation of a single HD camera.

Some members of council were still reluctant to move to a video streaming system. Ward 2 Coun. Maurice Smith balked at the price tag. “We don’t have anywhere near enough information,” he said.

Ward 3 Coun. Hugo Kroon was on the same page. “I tend to agree with Maurice. We need more information.”

But Smith and Kroon were in the minority. Mayor Iain Lovatt said there is some urgency with the matter as the town will be better equipped to handle the possibility of hybrid meetings in the fall. “We can debate whether live streaming is a good thing or a bad thing but its part of the 21st century,” Lovatt said. “We are going to put a camera on the back wall and broadcast our meeting.”

Ward 5 Coun. Richard Bartley said it was time to get with the 21st century. “I’m all for this camera. I’m going to try and lose a few pounds,” he said.

Town staff said the improvements would lead to a scalable solution which can accommodate the introduction of additional video cameras in the future if deemed necessary. It is estimated that the deployment of each additional camera would range in cost from $8,000 to $10,000. In a multi-camera setup, the different cameras can be programmed to automatically activate based on which microphone is in use.