Committee flags ADA accessibility and cybersecurity concerns, refers AV replacement to budget

The committee voted to send an accessibility and audio-visual replacement project to the budget process after IT reported the current livestreaming platform cannot be retrofitted to provide hearing-accessibility features.

Chair (Speaker 1) said a citizen reported difficulty hearing in the chamber. Mister Tuttle (Speaker 10) told the committee Arbor Media — the current vendor — reported there is no retrofit option for the county’s existing platform and the only viable solution is a platform replacement. Tuttle added the current meeting stream is routed overseas, which requires opening network ports to the Netherlands and Portugal. "Your actual meetings are being livestreamed from The Netherlands, but it goes to Portugal," Speaker 10 said, and added that foreign hosting raises both ADA and security concerns.

Committee members asked whether individual assistive devices could be used and whether the chambers could be integrated into any new full-commission system. Speakers emphasized risk-management and cyber-security implications and asked IT and the county clerk (Caroline/County Clerk’s office) to produce price estimates and equipment costs for the budget cycle. Prior estimates discussed at the meeting referenced six-figure costs for full replacement and equipment.

The committee approved a motion to forward AV/platform replacement and ADA remediation to the budget process and requested a timeline and ballpark cost estimates to be provided by IT and the county clerk before budget hearings.

Next steps: IT and the county clerk will produce budget-ready estimates for a replacement platform and equipment; risk management will remain engaged through the procurement and budget review.