AVALON – A group of Avalon residents has been asking the borough to provide some form of remote video access to Borough Council meetings for over three years. Resident Martha Wright even took on the task of unofficial video recordings with her smartphone. She posted the videos to a website for public access.
Even as many towns across the county worked to provide video access during 2020, when pandemic capacity restrictions limited in-person gatherings, Avalon went to a teleconference technology that only allowed audio access. Many residents made the limitations of that technology known to the council, noting the audio quality was often poor, the public could not always tell who was speaking, and presentations to council could not be seen by the public trying to participate in the meeting.
Council member John McCorristin, whose term as council president ends July 1, unsuccessfully pushed for video access in the past. This spring, he had success.
At the first regular council meeting (July 14) after the borough’s annual reorganization, Avalon plans to begin a six-month trial of livestream access to council meetings. Videos will also be posted to the borough’s website for viewing asynchronously.
Few details were shared about the technology that will be employed or what capabilities will be incorporated. Yet, in three weeks, Avalon will venture into the world of real-time video access of its governing body’s actions.
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