Former Common Council member Herb Grant has been out of office for close to a year, yet here he is, still working diligently on behalf of Norwalk shepherding the television coverage of Common Council meetings. The Hour reports:
Within weeks, Norwalk Common Council meetings could be televised on Cablevision Channel 79.
Council members hatched the idea last September during one of their informal bipartisan meetings. Since then, the city has received grant money to purchase the wiring and camera.
“The wiring has been done. The programming is pretty much completed and we’re waiting on one part that should be here in two to three weeks. We’re in pretty good shape,” said Karen Del Vecchio, the city’s director of information technology. “The camera is fixed (in place), but we have some ability to go left and right, and up and down.”
In addition to receiving the issuing part, a sound person must be trained to operate the system, according to Del Vecchio.
On Tuesday night, former Councilman Herbert A. Grant, treasurer for Area 9 Cable Council, which provided the grant money, told members of the council’s Land Use & Building Management Committee that more money is available to expand the system, if the city so chooses.
“You have to render a report to Area 9 Cable Council. Then you have to do an analysis, ‘What else do we need to make this complete?’” Grant said. “Then you would submit another grant (request) between now and the end of the year.”
Grant advised committee members to visit other towns that televise their municipal meetings for ideas about how to expand the current system.
“Darien is fully operational on Channel 79. You’ve got a variety of capabilities, and it’s a unique thing,” Grant said. “My suggestion would be visit Westport and visit Greenwich. Get an idea and cost from them, and that would be the request you resubmit to the Area 9 Cable Council.”
To date, the city has received two grants, one totaling $4,000 and the other $2,070, to purchase equipment for the system. To receive more dollars, the city must submit a report to the cable council, detailing how that money was spent, and prepare another grant request, Grant said.
“We have an opportunity to get money to do things for the public,” said Douglas E. Hempstead, Land Use Committee chairman.
Alan Lo, city building and facilities manager, said the Norwalk project, as currently designed, is 90-percent complete. One camera has been installed. Wiring, however, is in place for four cameras.
“We pointed one camera … the widest angle lens we could get. It doesn’t cover the speaker (podium). It covers the council. And it’s not designed to pan,” Lo said. “If you want a full access to view the audience, then you do need more cameras.”
The council meeting — and perhaps other municipal meetings held in the council chambers — will be broadcast on Channel 79, a public access channel operated by Cablevision.
source: The Hour, Televised council meetings pending, By ROBERT KOCH, August 30, 2008
