Bernardsville Council to Begin Audio Stream of Meetings

Soon, residents will be able to hear, even if not yet see, Bernardsville Borough Council meetings that they miss.

An idea that apparently has been discussed for several years — live video of Bernardsville Borough Council meetings — is being investigated, but in the meantime the council voted Monday to begin posting audio of proceedings on the borough website.

Bernardsville Borough Clerk Sandra Jones said that the first audio rerun likely will take place after the next Borough Council meeting. The website said a council meeting is scheduled for March 11.

Jones told the council at Monday night's meeting that it will cost about $760 to enable the borough website to provide audio of future meetings.

She said the meeting's won't be streamed live on the website, but perhaps a few days following the date that the governing body meets.

The catch, she told council members, is that members of the public — and even council members speaking from the dais — must identify themselves or be recognized by name by whoever is chairing the meeting so those who can't see what's going on can identify who's speaking.

Mayor Lee Honecker likened the audio to a conference call.

Longer term goal is live broadcast

The longer term goal is a live broadcast of the meetings, typically held twice a month on the second floor of borough hall.

Borough Administrator Ralph Maresca said the cost of purchasing quality equipment would be about $25,0000.

Honecker said the borough should look into arranging a live broadcast on cable television.

Councilman Joe Rossi also suggested the meetings could be videoed and then streamed on the borough's website.

Either way, the Mayor said, "Let the public see how the council operates."