Monona committee tables $2026 municipal-room AV upgrade after questions on cost, funding and service terms

The Monona Community Media Committee on its July 2025 meeting discussed a proposed 2026 capital request to replace and modernize audio-visual equipment in the library’s Municipal Room and voted to table the final decision until the committee’s August meeting after asking staff to gather more vendor and budget details.

The proposal, introduced by Will (AV representative, Monona Community Media), would put a municipal-room AV replacement in the committee’s 2026 capital budget. Will said he had put the item in the community media capital list to put the need “in front of the powers that be” and that the equipment has been installed historically by him and a past assistant media coordinator and by Fairings AV (vendor). “I took it upon myself to say, you know what? I know this needs to be updated soon,” Will said.

Committee members focused on three issues: which departmental budget should carry the cost, whether to buy equipment outright or take a technology-as-a-service (subscription) model, and what the vendor’s service and…