CC - Item 5A - Recording Procedures of Meetings
~OSEEAD CITY ~OID~CIL
STAFF RESORT
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: OLIVER CHI, CITY MANAGER ..Q~,,:
DATE: DECEMBER 16, 2008
SUBJECT: RECORDING PROCEDURE OF MEETINGS.AIVD MAIIVTEIVAIVCE OF
THE OFFICIAL RECORD
SUMMARY
The City currently records the City Council, Community Development Commission,
Planning Commission and Traffic Commission meetings utilizing the Granicus system
that was installed as part of the Chamber Upgrade project. Due to an error in~ the
Granicus system as explained at the November 18th Community Development
Commission meeting, the recording of the October 28, 2008 Community Development
Commission was lost. As a result, the City Council requested that staff develop a back-
up plan to ensure that the recordings of future meetings would not be lost. .
Staff has also received requests to provide the meeting recordings in multiple formats
and would like the Council to provide direction as to what one media type will be
maintained and provided in the event of a public records request.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt one method of maintaining the meeting
media and the resulting public copies as requested.
ANALYSIS
City staff has been working with Granicus to determine the exact problem that resulted
in the lost meeting recording. .Granicus identified the problem and has made the
necessary corrections. Furthermore, Granicus has trained City staff how to check the
system prior to the meeting to ensure that the .system is working and ready to record.
We are confident that this error will not occur again.
In order to provide for redundancy and as a safeguard, staff has installed a digital video
recorder (DVR) that is connected directly to the camera feed. Any video that is
processed through the camera will be recorded similar to a TIVO type system for
televisions. The objective is that even if there is an error with Granicus and their system
does not record the meeting, the DVR will always be on'and recording as a separate
system. _ ~~'~ ~®®
APPROVED FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA: ~•
City Council Meeting
December 16, 2008
Page 2 of 3
As a third redundancy, as requested by Council Members Low and Taylor, staff can
also record the meetings via audio tape as has been done in the past. These audio
tape recordings would only be used in case of a total failure of the video/audio system
and under our current system, would only be kept until it can be confirmed that the City
is in possession of a complete electronic video recording.
Determination of Media Format for Public Records Purposes
Staff is seeking direction from the City Council as to what media format will be available
for public records requests for City Council and CDC meetings. Presently the original
video file is maintained on our media server and is backed up offsite by Granicus. Our
media server stores the files in a Windows Media format that can be played on any
personal computer. These files are available for viewing through the City's website.
As an added feature from Granicus to ensure the electronic data is available for public
requests, they have built into their system the ability to burn these files to a CD so that
someone can play the file (watch the meeting) from any computer without having an
Internet connection. According to Granicus, these CDs are what most cities use if a
public records request is submitted for the electronic media.
As requested by the City Council, staff also creates a DVD which can be played through
a regular DVD player. We have been making copies of these. DVDs as necessary when
requested through a public records request. In addition to all of these methods, it has
been requested that staff produce the meeting in an audio only format on CD which can
be played on a regular CD player.
In order to complete the tasks of creating the DVDs that the City Council currently
receives, staff has to take the original Windows Media file and convert it to a DVD
format. This process is time consuming and typically takes an hour longer than the
actual meeting time. For example, if a City Council meeting has a duration of 2 hours; it
will typically take 3 hours for staff to create the DVD. The reason for the long timeframe
is due to the fact that the conversion and burning happens in real time.
If the City Council would like staff to produce the meetings in an audio only format via
CD; the staff would need to take the original Windows Media file and extract the audio
from the video. While the technical process is not overly complicated (provided that
staff has the correct software), it is time consuming and would take several hours on
average to complete.
Media Format Samples
For the CDC meeting of November 18, 2008, staff has prepared the meeting in the
various formats so that the City Council can try out each format prior to making a
decision. Included in the agenda packet are the CD Video playable on any computer
and the CD Audio playable in any CD music player. DVDs were previously provided to
the City Council.
City Council Meeting
December 16, 2008
Page 3 of 3
FINANCIAL REVIEW
There is no financial impact to the City if the CD Video format playable on a computer is
selected. If the City Council decides to continue with the DVD production or the
creation of audio CDs, then staff is recommending the acquisition of a new iMac
computer and related software for staff to use for media production. The estimated
acquisition cost is $2,000.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
This item has been noticed through the regular agenda notification process.
Submitted by:
Matthew E. Hawkesworth
Assistant City Manager