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New City Hall ready for live broadcasts in main public rooms; council asks staff to draft a streaming policy
Summary
Council discussed streaming capabilities in the new City Hall and directed staff to prepare a policy requiring live streams for core public meetings where feasible; staff identified three public rooms with streaming capability and the council chamber's existing system.
As Amarillo prepares to move to its new City Hall, staff told council the new building includes streaming and audiovisual capabilities in several public rooms, and council asked staff to draft a policy that would require streaming of certain public meetings.
City staff said the new building’s main public meeting spaces — the council chamber, a large first-floor conference room and a council work room behind the chamber — have installed audiovisual systems and pan‑tilt‑zoom cameras suitable for live streaming. A total of three public rooms were identified as having streaming capability on day one; several smaller public rooms do not yet have streaming equipment. Staff described the streaming workflow the city currently uses for council chambers (a Granicus/Swagit product linked to the city’s YouTube channel and website) and said the same approach could be used to stream additional meetings.
Staff cautioned council that expanding streaming to every boardroom would require additional equipment, audio systems and operational support — including staffing to operate the equipment — and that some rooms used for public meetings (for example, in the Sims Building) may need added investment to be able to stream. Staff said they will test systems in mock meetings before the Feb. 25 move-in and will work with IT and the vendor to ensure reliability.
Council direction Council member Simpson proposed a policy that would require future boards and certain public work sessions to be livestreamed when held in appropriately equipped city venues; councilors asked staff to prepare a draft policy establishing minimum expectations for which meetings are streamed and how the city will publish and archive recordings. Staff agreed to return with a policy proposal and to evaluate costs and logistics for equipping additional rooms (including the possibility of later equipping the Sims Building).
Next steps IT and the City Secretary’s office will complete technology tests, run mock meetings in the new rooms prior to the first scheduled council meeting in the new chamber, and return to council with a draft policy that lays out which meeting types will be required to be streamed and what triggers additional equipment investments.
