The Bonney Lake city council is looking into ways to broadcast video of their workshops and meetings, but they will apparently not be doing it through Comcast’s PCTV public access channel.
The council on Tuesday is expected to pass an ordinance pulling out of the Rainier Cable Commission, a move that will save the city $12,000 next year and $24,000 every year after.
Councilmember Jim Rackley, who was the Bonney Lake representative on the Commission, brought forward the idea of ending their membership in November.
While Rackley said he wanted to get the city’s meeting’s online, he does not think the cable channel is the best way to go, especially since being on television increases the cost by $1,100 per month.
Rackley said the commission provides two benefits: access to the cable channel to broadcast meetings and aid in negotiating cable contracts with Comcast.
But Rackley said because of changes in laws stemming from the Federal Communications Commission there is not much “wiggle room” in contracts anymore. He said he believes the improvement in the contract negotiated by the commission, as opposed to a city-negotiated contract, would be slim.
“I’m an accountant,” Rackley said. “If we’re not going to go on the air, this is expensive.”
The city pays $24,000 per year in dues to the Commission. By announcing their decision to leave before January 1, the city will be remain a member through June, making the savings for 2012 only $12,000.
Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman agreed, saying there was no point in staying with the program if the city was not going to use the cable channel to broadcast meetings.
The city presently records all council workshops and meetings. The recording is uploaded to the city’s website and is available to the public.
The City of Sumner records video of its meetings, which are available on the city website and the PCTV website.
The council was unanimous in wanting to record video of the meetings, but the consensus was that the city could find a cheaper alternative.
The City of Auburn, for example, contracts with a San Francisco-based company to tape and stream the meetings.
Councilmember Mark Hamilton said the company charges $6,000 in set-up costs and then $600 per month for streaming. The cameras would be an additional cost of at least $15,000, plus an additional $200 per month.
According to Auburn Public Affairs Manager Dana Hinman, Auburn pays Public Benefit Technologies $300 per month to upload two meetings per month to the city’s website.
Bonney Lake Councilmembers agreed that the web would provide better coverage at a better price for citizens interested in watching meetings. Councilmember Laurie Carter also said that citizens who do not have cable television would be better served through the web.
“With the way technology is advancing I think the online stuff is more important,” Rackley said during the meeting.
The council agreed to re-visit the broadcast issue early next year. The vote to withdraw from the RCC was scheduled for Tuesday.
