City to post audio minutes of public meetings
BEAUFORT, S.C.—The City of Beaufort has installed upgraded audio/video equipment in Council Chambers and the Planning Conference Room at City Hall, as well as at Municipal Court. Additional equipment is still to be installed in the Planning Conference Room.
The new system, which includes cameras, microphones and recording equipment, will allow the City to post audio minutes of all its public meetings on its website instead of written verbatim minutes. The audio minutes will be available one to two days after the meeting, and will be found in the agendas section of the website. The audio minutes will be accompanied by brief written minutes that state the motions made during that session or meeting.
The new audio minutes will be effective Dec. 10 for Council sessions.
City Clerk Ivette Burgess said the City began to plan for the new equipment over the summer, when the system at Municipal Court, which was 9 years old, began to fail. The City purchased the equipment from Sharp Business Systems through the state procurement system. The company that supplied the original equipment was no longer in business, and support for that system was no longer available, she said.
Currently, City Council work sessions and regular sessions are live-streamed on Facebook and can be found on the City’s video page on Facebook. Soon, both work sessions and regular sessions will also be archived on the City’s YouTube page.
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Contact: Kathleen Williams, Communications Manager
kwilliams@cityofbeaufort.org
Office: 843-470-3508
Cell: 843-929-7791