BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's Committee of the Whole on Tuesday night heard a plan to livestream county meetings.
Channing Barker, county communications director, put together a presentation after a few justices of the peace asked about the possibility of livestreaming the meeting through the Internet. Washington County already provides that option, Barker said.
Drug court help
Benton County’s Committee of the Whole on Tuesday night approved a waiver in salary policy and an appropriation request, both for Circuit County Division III-Drug Court. The items will next move to the Quorum Court.
Source: Staff report
A livestream would give county residents the flexibility to watch video, live or recorded, on their own, according to Barker's presentation. Video streaming would open the meetings to the public who can't attend in person, according to the presentation. According to Arkansas Code, the Quorum Court of each county shall provide for the keeping of written minutes which include the final vote on each ordinance or resolution indicating the vote of each individual member on the question.
The livestream could be posted to Facebook, YouTube and the county website, Barker said. The initial upfront cost would be a little over $34,000, according to her presentation. A one-time cost of $15,500 for hardware would be included in the total, as well as a two-camera system. A part-time employee also would be needed to run the system, and would be a continuing annual cost, she said.
The second option would be to continue the posting of audio recordings of county meetings. The audio isn't posted live, though. The audio is uploaded to the county website after a particular meeting, Barker said. Meetings for April and May are posted on the website, she said. That cost would only be around $700 per year.
Justice of the Peace Carrie Perrien Smith said she supported the livestreaming project, but wanted to look at it at budget time next year. She suggested continuing to post the audio. Justice of the Peace Susan Anglin also backed the audio idea.
James Turner, information technology director, said bringing the video idea back as a capital project in 2020 could be a consideration.
County Judge Barry Moehring suggested the county promote the audio aspect on its social media platforms.
The committee on Tuesday night also heard reports from Ozark Regional Transit and the Road Department.
Jeff Hatley with Ozark Regional Transit said ridership across the two-county network has passed the 100,000 mark this year, and is up 8.3 percent over last year. Ridership was up 9.4 percent this May compared to last May, he said. About 60 percent of the transit users are from Fayetteville, he said.
Jay Frasier, the public services administrator who oversees the Road Department, said because of the increased cost of asphalt the county expects to do at least 28 miles of asphalt paving from its "A" list. The cost of asphalt has risen from $42.50 per ton to $55.36 per ton, he said. The county also expects to finish 20 miles of crack-and-seal work this year. There has been an estimated 15 miles of gravel road improvements and an estimated 5 miles improvements using red dirt done this year, according to Frasier's presentation.
NW News on 06/19/2019