Stouffville council meetings could be broadcast next day
Pilot project would cost taxpayers $2,700

Stouffville Sun-Tribune
January 17, 2014
By Sandra Bolan

Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville council meetings could be broadcast the day after meetings are held on WhiStle Radio starting next month.

The pilot project would consist of six regular council meetings, with the first one scheduled for Feb. 18.

The broadcasts would be recorded and aired the following night.

Radio station personnel would only be allowed to make minor edits to the recordings to remove white noise or silence, according to a report going to council Tuesday.

"No content shall be altered," states the memorandum of understanding.

Closed council sessions would not be recorded.

If council approves the staff recommendation as-is, the audio files would be posted to the town’s website after they aired on the station so as to not compete with the broadcast.

The proposed pilot project is expected to cost taxpayers about $2,700 or roughly $450 per meeting. The cost includes $100/hour to broadcast the recordings and 1.5 hours, at $100/hour, of "staff and volunteer time to edit the recording", according to the council report.

WhiStle's FM signal reaches 75 per cent of urban Stouffville. The station has an application into the CRTC to increase its signal strength to include all of Stouffville as well as areas in Ballantrae, Musselman's Lake and Gormley, which translates into 67 per cent of Whitchurch-Stouffville, according to the staff report.

Vaughan and Markham audio live-stream their council and committee meetings via their municipal websites.

Richmond Hill provides audio recordings on-demand through its website.

The next regular Whitchurch-Stouffville council meeting begins at 3 p.m., 111 Sandiford Dr. For more information, go to www.townofws.ca/en/index.asp