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As plans to broadcast township board meetings and other events approach fruition, Springfield Township officials hope it won’t be long before residents will tune in the local cable channel and watch from the comfort of home.
‘It’s something most people agree needs to be done,? said township Supervisor Mike Trout. ‘I think it’s important we get the word out; the more information we can get to the public, the better. We have a cable station and we should maximize use of it to benefit the community.?
The township currently has about $270,700 in its cable fund. The money’public, educational, and government (PEG) funds’come from franchise agreements with cable television providers.
In Springfield, Comcast, and to a lesser extent, AT&T, pay a quarterly percentage based on gross annual receipts in the community.
But there’s a catch: the money can only be used for certain things, such as the purchase of equipment and production of PEG programming.
Trout said he was looking into a number of different avenues for getting the meetings on cable.
The township, he said, could make an investment and use PEG funds to purchase its own equipment and do the recording and editing in-house, or contract with an outside vendor.
While the Springfield Township Civic Center was originally equipped to record meetings, the electronics have gone out of date since building completion in 2002, he said.
‘We’re trying to inventory and evaluate what we have in terms of equipment,? Trout explained. ‘The problem is that most of it is old now; some is even VHS equipment. Obviously that’s not something we want to get into in the digital age. Even the cameras in the board room are basically just surveillance cameras.?
The rapid pace at which such equipment goes out of date, said Trout, was one reason he preferred to contract the service out.
‘I’m leaning toward someone who has the equipment and can film it, edit it, and provide it to us,? he said. ‘That way, we can at least see what’s involved before we get into a huge investment.?
Contracting the service out, he said, would likely cost ‘a couple hundred dollars? per meeting, while purchasing cameras and other equipment could quickly add up to $50,000 or more.
Springfield Township Treasurer Jamie Dubre said she agrees with the idea of broadcasting meetings and other events on cable, but thinks the options should be evaluated carefully.
‘We do have money we could spend, and we’ve been talking about it for years,? she said. ‘The question is how to go about it. It needs to be slow; I’d hate to see us spend a significant amount of money on equipment or service that isn’t going to be any good.?
Dubre said she thought the township would be best served by initially purchasing cameras, and exploring options from there.
‘We talked about looking to see if we could get someone from the schools (to record meetings),? she said. ‘I haven’t seen any evidence that anyone’s done that yet.?