Published December 4, 2019
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Local viewers may soon be able to watch more meetings of their favorite boards and committees, assuming the town can come up with the money in next year’s budget for a video system at Town Hall and WCAT can find the manpower to cover those meetings.
A couple of members of the Town Council have been pushing for the expanded meeting coverage and last week Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio provided an update on efforts in that area.
Maio reminded councilors that the Board of Selectmen’s meetings were at one time televised from the first floor conference room at Town Hall, before the meetings were moved to the WCAT studio. However, the system that was used to televise those Town Hall meetings is outdated and no longer serviceable, Maio said.
WCAT went out to bid for a new system for televising meetings from Town Hall. They received one response from a company, Access A/V of Concord, New Hampshire, which came in with a price of $31,000. But given the tenuous state of funding for local cable operations amid changing federal regulations, WCAT was concerned about the cost, Maio said. So the town is looking to put the video system in the FY 2021 budget as a capital expense.
If purchased, the system would allow for meetings at Town Hall to be covered in one of three ways: by an on-site crew, remotely from the studio or remotely from a laptop computer.
Maio said that the town must decide which meetings will be covered, and WCAT would need to staff coverage of those meetings. Such meeting coverage will likely take WCAT’s small staff away from other public events, Maio noted, so Town Councilors interested in this expanded coverage should be prepared to help with recruiting volunteers to staff meeting coverage.
If the funding is approved in next year’s capital budget, the equipment could be installed and up and running within a month, Maio said. In the meantime, other boards that currently meet at Town Hall could be asked to hold their meetings at the WCAT studio to facilitate coverage.
Meetings other than the Town Council and the School Committee would not necessarily be covered live, Maio said, but would be recorded and posted online shortly thereafter.
WCAT currently provides live coverage of the Town Council, the School Committee and Town Meeting.
In other WCAT-related news, retiring General Manager Tom Stapleton announced last week that current Assistant GM Ryan Boyd will take over leadership of the local cable operation when Stapleton steps down this month.
One of the boards whose meetings could be covered in the future is the Planning Board. Members of the Planning Board were on the agenda for last week’s Town Council meeting to provide a routine update on their duties and activities.
Chairman Willam Spaulding, Vice Chairman Matthew Lowry and and Town Planner Paul Reavis talked about the Planning Board’s role in subdivision permitting, changes to the Zoning Bylaws and economic development.
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In other business last week, the Town Council:
• Appointed Brie Reynolds of Spring Street to a three-year term and Kenneth Alepidis of Brig Street to a four-year term on the Clean Lake Committee.
• Approved various license renewal applications, including common victuallers, lodging houses, new and used car dealers and liquor licenses.
• Approved a request from Library Director Catherine McDonald to accept and expend $12,321.35 in gifts from various donors.