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Resident urges Wildwood Crest to reduce reliance on YouTube/Facebook for meeting archives; borough says recordings exist on borough server
Summary
A public commenter told the commission that using third‑party platforms risks excluding residents who lose access; borough staff and officials replied that meetings are recorded to the borough server and IT staff could examine alternatives such as a paid VPS or email notification list for meeting notices.
At the start of the public‑comment period, Eric M identified himself and urged the borough to consider alternatives to hosting meeting video solely through third‑party platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. "Beyond the legal minimum requirements ... emailing a newspaper ... is kind of becoming more and more outmoded," he said, arguing that residents who are locked out of commercial platforms can be excluded from municipal meeting records and that a rented VPS or other US‑hosted archiving service and an email notification list would provide more resilient public access.
Officials responded that the borough already records meetings to its server and that the IT consultant could be consulted to explore archival/hosting alternatives. The exchange concluded with staff noting a signup option on the borough website for event notifications but no dedicated, meeting‑notice email list; no formal directive was recorded.
Why this matters: Public‑access infrastructure affects residents' ability to observe government meetings and receive timely notices; the exchange raised technical and equity concerns about third‑party platform dependence and suggested administrative follow‑up.
What the transcript shows: Eric M made specific recommendations for self‑hosted or rented archival options and an email list; staff said meetings are recorded to the borough server and indicated IT involvement would be required to expand or change hosting. There is no record in the meeting minutes of a formal policy change or a scheduled follow‑up task.
