Three Rivers commission to vote on livestream equipment and policies

This Tuesday, September 1, at 6 p.m. the Three Rivers City Commission will meet and consider the purchase of equipment for city-administered live-streaming. Commissioners will decide which video camera system to purchase with the Meeting Owl Pro 5 Camera and supplemental equipment being recommended by staff. The total cost would be $5,000 from the general fund. 

The item comes to the commission following a long wait since they first directed City Manager Joe Bippus to explore livestreaming options during their June 16 meeting. Bippus gave a brief update during their August 18 meeting, however, did not mention the item would be on this meeting’s agenda. 

The city is aiming for a January 2027 start date while taking the fall to implement the new technology, according to the agenda packet. 

The packet also includes a retention policy which recommends the recording is kept on the city’s YouTube until one day after the minutes of that meeting are approved — which will typically be two weeks after the livestream takes place. 

The recording will then be deleted “promptly unless a legal, FOIA, audit, or investigation hold applies.” 

Mayor Angel Johnston, who made the initial motion requesting Bippus explore live-streaming, took issue with some of the policy specifics in a Facebook post over the weekend. 

“Somehow, without contacting either of the two people suggested, the City came up with a group of suggestions- the one recommended being a product I know to be problematic (again, this is the industry I work in and I literally run the service department, so I hear every complaint that can’t be solved remotely),” Johnston wrote, adding that she feels the retention policy of two to three weeks is “ridiculously short.” Johnston said that without amendments, she will be voting “no” on the policy.

Commissioners will decide on the camera purchase as well as a retention policy during Tuesday’s meeting. Under the new policy, only the city commission meetings would be live-streamed.

Other business

Commissioners will also consider several ordinance readings, including final adoption of the International Property Maintenance Code, a first reading of an amendment to the city’s regulations for massage establishments, and a first reading of an amendment to side-yard requirements. 

The proposed massage establishment amendment would eliminate the requirement for businesses to obtain a special exception use permit, and instead regulate them as conditional uses. City staff said the change would reduce a second layer of municipal approval and make the process less burdensome. The proposal comes months after commissioners directed staff to review the city’s regulations governing massage establishments following concerns raised about outdated and discriminatory language in the city code. It is not clear from the agenda packet whether the current zoning amendment is a direct result of that February directive. 

Commissioners will also be asked to approve delinquent utility and non-utility accounts receivable. The delinquent utility accounts total $23,893, while the non-utility accounts total $7,801.

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.