Forks Supervisors Look into Recording Meetings

The Forks Township Board of Supervisors is looking at videotaping meetings to post on the municipal website. The plan, however, hinges on updating the audio recording system.

On Thursday, supervisors authorized township Finance Manager Jim Farley to solicit for proposals from vendors to recommend a new system. The current system, officials say, is analogue and in order to properly hear meeting recordings, would need to be upgraded to a digital audio system.

“We’d have to change that system around and add a computer system to it,” said Farley.

The entire upgrade is expected to cost $14,500 to $24,500. That cost includes upgrading the audio recording system for the township to either videotape or record audio of meetings. Farley said three years ago the township solicited for an audio upgrade project. At that time, proposals came back at $12,000 to $20,000.

Initial cost estimates by New Arrival Studios of Bethlehem without upgrading the audio system came in at $2,500 and $4,500. They have proposed two options.

The first option is videotaping and audio recordings of the meetings and then posting onto the municipal website. The cost for this option is estimated at $4,500. This cost includes a camera and uploading the videos onto the municipal website. The second option costs $2,500 for an audio recording of the meetings only and uploading the sound onto the municipal website. New Arrival Studios said the cost would be a one-time fee since they currently maintain the municipal website. Both options are with the existing audio system.