BERLIN – Officials cut this week’s Berlin Town Council meeting short upon learning of audio problems with the livestream video.
The council voted unanimously to end Monday’s meeting after members of the public reported audio problems with the video being livestreamed on Facebook.
“With the public not being able to hear, I would recommend that we postpone this meeting,” Councilman Dean Burrell said. “It’s just not a good thing.”
Mayor Gee Williams swore in members of the Berlin Parks Commission and the town council approved the purchase of an additional EDU (equivalent dwelling unit) for Arby’s on Monday prior to being made aware of the audio problem.
“This is the first time we’ve had this problem in two and a half months,” Williams said.
Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen said she didn’t know why the system would be malfunctioning now.
“Nothing is any different than it was the first time we did it,” she said.
When asked whether they could proceed with the meeting despite the livestream issue, town attorney Dave Gaskill said they could. He added, however, that the council could also postpone and simply add the remaining agenda items to the schedule for the next meeting on July 27.
Staff pointed out that the regular audio recording of the meeting was not tied to the livestream video and would be available the day after the meeting.
“The livestream is not actually a requirement, we’re doing it because we want the information out there,” Bohlen said. “The audio is on (the website) the next day.”
Nevertheless the council opted to postpone the remainder of the meeting until July 27. Williams asked staff, who were already looking into purchasing new sound equipment for the council chambers, to expedite the process to ensure the next meeting would be available to the public via livestream.
