Three Rivers approves new website as livestream plans remain in development
During public comment, resident Austin Kane urged commissioners to begin livestreaming their meetings again. This prompted Mayor Angel Johnston to ask City Manager Joe Bippus for an update on the commission’s June 16 direction for Bippus to explore city-run livestreams.
“We’re probably developing an RFP (request for proposal) that we’ll send out,” Bippus said, in part.
Johnston then asked Bippus when the system would be ready, Bippus said he did not know.
The Three Rivers City Commission met Tuesday, August 18, for a regular business meeting, unanimously approving the first reading of the International Property Maintenance Code and the purchase of a new website and related platforms. Commissioners also received a brief update from City Manager Joe Bippus on the city’s efforts to resume livestreaming its meetings.
Commissioner Lucas Allen was absent from Tuesday’s meeting; all votes taken during the meeting were unanimous among commissioners present.
City-run livestream update
During public comment, resident Austin Kane urged commissioners to begin livestreaming their meetings again. Kane also serves on the Watershed Voice board. This prompted Mayor Angel Johnston to ask City Manager Joe Bippus for an update on the commission’s June 16 direction for Bippus to explore city-run livestreams.
“We’re probably developing an RFP (request for proposal) that we’ll send out,” Bippus said. “We’ve been collecting data and working with our IT folks. We wanna do it right cause we’re gonna have the same problems that everybody else has and we have found a system for like $5,000 that we could do but we’re not 100% sure if we wouldn’t end up with the same kind of problems that everybody else does, so, and the commission asked us to come back with three quotes, and we’re preparing that.”
Johnston then asked Bippus when the system would be ready, Bippus said he did not know.
This was Bippus’ first public update on livestreaming since commissioners directed him to explore the issue June 16.
Later in the meeting, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Taylor Davis, who also handles sound for city meetings, provided additional information. Davis said he has been working with Finance Director Bobbi Schoon, who has also been working with the city’s IT provider to ensure a livestreaming system would be compatible with the city’s technology and security requirements.
“She’s not here tonight or else she would probably have a timeline,” Davis said, regarding Schoon. “I also know that she wears many hats and its audit season and we just changed fiscal years but I know the ball is rolling on it and it was delved more in-depth with Bobbi than just buying an ipad and setting it up.”
No livestreaming proposal was formally presented or voted on Tuesday.
Regular business
Commissioners unanimously approved $27,626 for CivicPlus Municipal Websites Central and related meeting management, accessibility, document and social media archiving services. The purchase will begin the process of replacing the city’s current website with a new CivicPlus platform. The new platform, staff says, will provide access to meeting agendas, social media archives, historical meeting information and other resources. All of these resources will be searchable by users, aiming to make the website more accessible.
City Clerk Leslie Wilson said the city will begin the transition following the commission’s approval, but the new website will likely take four to six months to launch. Wilson said the websites will run in tandem during the transition. Wilson added that if the city livestreams meetings on YouTube, the city’s YouTube account could be linked through the website’s public portal. Storing livestream recordings through the platform’s archiving service, however, would come at an additional cost.
Commissioners also unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance adopting the International Property Maintenance Code. The code would establish minimum standards for the maintenance of existing residential and nonresidential properties. According to the city attorney’s report, the code would also provide the city with a comprehensive and standardized framework for addressing property maintenance concerns and assist with consistent code enforcement. The ordinance will return to commissioners for a second reading and, if adopted, would take effect 20 days later, according to City Attorney T.J. Reed.
Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.
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Local meeting primer: Three Rivers City Commission
Commissioners will be asked to consider an initial-term investment of $27,626 in CivicPlus Municipal Websites Central related services to replace the city’s website and improve its ability to “provide accessible, secure, and user-friendly information to residents, businesses, and visitors,” according to the agenda packet.
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The city has not publicly provided an update on its plans to explore livestreaming options, and the website change does not itself indicate that meetings will be livestreamed. Commissioners directed City Manager Joe Bippus to explore city-run meeting livestreams during their June 16 meeting but have received no public update from Bippus since.
