Title
Consider approving Resolution No. 2024-040 authorizing the purchase of audio-visual equipment and implementation services for the City Hall PEG Channel Broadcast System from Digital Resources, Inc. through the TIPS purchasing contract No. 230105 in the amount not to exceed $265,200; and take appropriate action.
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BACKGROUND:
The City currently produces, records, and broadcasts the City Council Meetings and the Planning and Zoning Commission meetings. The goal is to make these meetings available for community engagement through various platforms, including Cable TV Public Access, Granicus live web streaming, and YouTube.
Cable TV-based Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) channels provide significant benefits to communities, including transparency and accountability through access to local government meetings. They also act as a community hub, providing valuable information, educational programming, and more. PEG broadcasting and meeting virtualization technologies were increasingly important during the pandemic when citizens could not attend such meetings in person.
Since the City operates a public access channel (FBTV) through the local Cable TV providers, we receive approximately $50,000 annually in PEG funds. These funds account for one percent of the cable franchisee's gross revenue, and the FCC mandates that these funds be dedicated to capital assets associated with the operation of our PEG television channel.
Most of the broadcast equipment used to produce and broadcast these meetings was installed in 2011, with a few upgrades occurring over the years as needed. We do experience ongoing operating challenges and have suffered from recent system outages directly related to the age of the existing technology. Additionally, the room that currently houses the broadcast control room and associated equipment is space-constrained, with no room to expand to accommodate additional technologies.
In early 2023, City staff from both the IT an...
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