Residents and others may soon be able to listen and watch the City of Zephyrhills’ public meetings online.
The idea has been floated to city leaders by video production company IntellisMedia, a division of WUSF Public Media.
Under its initial proposal, IntellisMedia would agree to live-stream and record designated city meetings (city council, planning commission, airport commission and so on) from the City Council chambers for a fee of $750 per meeting ; the city would have to agree to live-stream and record a minimum of three meetings per month, costing about $2,250. The company would provide all labor and equipment necessary to process the live-stream and recordings.
Live-streamed, and audio and video recorded meetings would be available on the city’s official website, as well as other platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. Recorded meetings may also air on Pasco County’s government-access television channel, which IntellisMedia also manages.
Zephyrhills City Manager Steve Spina told the City Council he will consult with city staff to look into other live-streaming options and proposals before making a final decision.
“I think it’s a good idea, and I think some of our staff are pretty excited about the idea of live-streaming our meetings and kind of getting up with times,” Spina said, “but this was the first and only proposal we had, so it might be worthwhile to look at it a little more.”
Some other Pasco municipalities, including Port Richey and New Port Richey, stream and record their meetings through their official city websites and YouTube.
“I know a lot of other municipalities and counties do have those things available for people to watch and tune into,” Spina said.
“I think it’s something of interest,” Spina added.
Zephyrhills City Council president Lance Smith said, “It’s something we need to look into, for sure.”
Published December 5, 2018
