Village Hall Boardroom PA System Getting an Upgrade

The public address system in the village hall boardroom is getting upgraded.

Adwar Video based in Farmingdale will supply and install new wiring for $6,659.71 as per New York State contract. This upgrade is subject to funds being transferred from the village's contingent account.

For many who regularly attend meetings in that room, it's a welcomed improvement.

Poplar Street resident Bill Bellmer said he was happy to hear the board was doing something about the current PA system after all these years. "What will it take to get you to actually use it?" he asked trustees, referring to the microphones placed in front of each of their seats on the dais.

Trustee Andrew Cavanaugh said he's always found the microphone difficult to maneuver. "These microphones, and I think my colleagues will agree and the audience will agree, are sub-optimal," he said.

Village clerk Brian Ridgway said engineers advised him that the microphones currently in use are "top edge of what's out there in terms of technology" so Adwar Video intends to "re-wire" the existing system.

"The problem is your voices are being picked up by the microphones but it traces itself back into the back room. That's where the sound kind of dissipates and it goes into various channels of the recording device and gets projected by another set of wires, that's all being replaced, to our speakers," Ridgway said. "So it's picking your voice up but it's not recording it properly and then transmitting it to the public."