The idea of web casting council meetings is not a new idea at the municipal hall. The issue was bandied about and discussed during the budget deliberations at the committee level, said Mayor Wendal Milne.
It’s also not something that is written in stone and destined to be a fixture at council chambers — if it is not utilized by residents.
“People will be able to select a recording (video) of the meeting in conjunction with the agenda,”said Milne.
He said people would not have to sit through an entire council meeting to learn what happened to a specific item on the agenda.
Hot buttons would exist on the agenda posted on the District of Sooke website and a viewer could select which part of the council meeting they want to view.
“A tab button would go to the camera recording of the issue,” Milne stated. “We would hope for 50-100 hits a week,”
He said if there wasn’t enough interest, they would look at the viability of the technology. The tech support from the streaming company is on a year-to-year basis and could be cancelled if the interest wasn’t there.
Milne stated the municipality of North Saanich did a lot of the legwork and an exhaustive review on web casting with the provider, Granicus, and they went with a “proven product.” Sooke would enlist the same provider.
On another topic, the renewed request to be a part of the Juno Awards bid came up. The bid committee, based out of Victoria, was seeking about $12,000 from Sooke to be a part of the festivities.
Milne said the request was sent back to Finance and Administration Committee but there was “not a lot of enthusiasm.”
