COLD LAKE – Residents wanting to watch the City of Cold Lake council meetings can now do so with the click of their mouse.
The municipality will now be live-streaming their meetings after passing a motion to do so during a special meeting on Jan. 12.
Mayor Craig Copeland said the first one to be live-streamed on Jan. 12 was well received by those who tuned in.
“It sounds like we have over 30 people watching, that’s not bad,” he noted.
After watching other municipalities stream when council was in their chambers, city council instructed administration to look into the possibility.
“It’s a good opportunity for people to be engaged and informed,” Copeland said. “We’ll give it a try and see what kind of reception we get.”
According to Copeland, it cost roughly $15,000 to complete the project.
Corporate priorities, regular, and special meetings will be live-streamed to Cold Lake’s Youtube channel. If council goes into a closed session, the cameras will be turned off.
Due to the size of council chambers, Copeland noted it took a bit of maneuvering to find the best places for the cameras to be hooked up.
“For the limited space that we’ve got in there, the staff did a great job,” Copeland expressed, adding the municipality wanted to ensure everything was in place before going live.
“We wanted to make sure that we did it right and that the quality of the video is as best as we could get it so there wasn’t a big rush. It’s there now for the majority of people to watch us and for those who are thinking about getting into municipal politics one day, it’s a good way to watch and see what’s involved.”
To watch a meeting online, visit the City of Cold Lake’s Youtube page.
