Lincoln County Commission meeting being viewed via Zoom at the county office in Afton as commissioners discuss the potential of adding a public live and archived video streaming option.
SVI PHOTO/DUKE DANCE

The Lincoln County Commissioners discussed the possibility of streaming county meetings during the regularly scheduled County Commission Meeting on Tuesday, October 21. The discussion was held in response to resolutions signed by the Alpine and Thayne Town Councils and the Lincoln County Republican Party, which requested the county begin streaming meetings. The Town of Afton also passed a similar resolution last week, but it had not been received by the commissioners before the Oct. 21 commission meeting. While the Town of Star Valley Ranch has discussed potentially signing similar resolutions, one has not been adopted as of October 21.

RELATED: ALPINE, THAYNE AND AFTON CALL ON COUNTY TO BROADCAST MEETINGS –

During the Oct. 21 meeting, the bulk of the discussion focused around potential costs and the logistics of video streaming the county’s public meetings. Commissioner Mel Shumway discussed if the video needs to be just a static feed, or if viewers need to have the ability to interact and participate in the meeting.

Commissioner Kent Connelly asked how long recordings of the meetings need to be on file and if the audio from the video feed would fulfill state statutes that the county provide an audio recording for up to three years. Also, if the video feed is interrupted or stopped for any technical related issues, does the meeting itself need to pause or stop until the feed is resumed? The county attorney recommended those concerns be written out in a county streaming policy.

Commissioner Teri Bowers stated that she feels something needs to be done and that the county should make plans to begin offering a live video feed of meetings.

Other concerns discussed were the increased cost of staff, particularly from the I.T. department, to set up and manage the video streams.

At the end of the discussion the commissioners gave direction to Chief of Staff Stephen Allen to work with the county I.T. Department and come up with an outline of costs and potential increased labor hours by county employees. Mr. Allen said he would have a report to pass along to the commissioners in November.

“Our resolution came from just not really knowing what is going on down in Kemmerer at those meetings. Transparency to me is really important,” stated Mayor Eric Green during an October 8 interview on SVI Radio. “And it’s really not that difficult to do.”

Currently, Lincoln County Commission meetings held in Kemmerer are available to view live from the county offices in Afton. Any commission meetings held in Afton are also made available at the Kemmerer county offices. However, no live or archived video of county meetings are available to the public.