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Ridgewood plans audiovisual system upgrade after microphones failed to broadcast meeting
Summary
A broadcast failure at a June 2 meeting led staff to recommend a full replacement of the Village Hall chambers’ aged audio system, including new digital processors, speakers and installation/training; officials discussed costs, a 6–8 week delivery estimate and a multi-day installation window.
Village staff told the council on June 9 that a failure of the chambers’ audio system forced postponement of a prior meeting and that the existing equipment is obsolete and cannot be fully repaired.
Dylan Hanson, the village’s IT director, said he and staff tested microphones before the meeting and found only half the microphones working; the system also produced no broadcast output to the village’s streaming partner. “We tested the mics before every meeting, make sure everything's functional…we tested the mics and only half of them were working,” Hanson said. He said an onsite engineer rebuilt configuration files and upgraded firmware, but replacement parts for the roughly ten-year-old system are no longer available.
Council members and staff discussed a proposal to install new digital sound processors (the system’s ‘‘brain’’), zone the room into multiple speaker areas, and add or supplement speakers as necessary. Frank (council member) said the back speakers were inexpensive ($800 a pair) but that overall installation and training would be a larger line item; council members noted an installation and training line around $7,000 and hardware items described in the vendor estimate. The vendor estimated a 6–8 week delivery timeline and about four days on site for installation.
Council members expressed support for upgrading the system. One council member summarized: “I think anything we can do to improve this process…this is money well spent,” and staff said they would schedule installation at a time that minimizes disruption to court and planning board use of the room.
No formal procurement vote was recorded during the workshop; staff said they will proceed with the vendor selection and schedule installation after the council’s direction.
