Stillwater City Council, School District Consider Partnering to Webcast Public Meetings

You may soon be able to watch Stillwater City Council and District 834 School Board meetings online, at your leisure.

The Stillwater City Council on Tuesday will hear a proposal for the city and the school district to share the cost of webcasting public meetings.

This as an opportunity to save money in the long term and conduct a more open form of government, Stillwater Mayor Ken Harycki said.

The school district is on board with the idea, as well.

“This is something we’ve looked into for years,” Harycki said. “Now the price has come down drastically.”

The cost to purchase and install the equipment needed to stream the meetings on the Internet is $2,625, of which the city would be responsible for $1,312.50.

Monthly fees for the cloud services to host—and archive—the meetings online is $724, of which the city would pay half. The annual fees would total $4,344.

The cost to the city for the first year—fees and equipment—would be $5,656.50.

What would the city and school district get?

The Granicus Transparency Suite is a cloud-based application that would allow the city and school district to store an unlimited amount of meeting data; give the city and school district the ability to upload and publish videos and documents—such as packets and minutes— online; and make that information accessible through the city and school district websites for the public to see and search.

The public would be able to watch the meetings live on the Internet or later at their leisure—they can also look at packets minutes and attached documentation.

The package also includes an iPad application called iLegislate.

If the City Council approves the proposal, details of the partnership with the school district will still need to be worked out.

The proposal will be heard during Tuesday night’s 4:30 p.m. council meeting at City Hall.