In a Cable Access Committee update, Chairman Randall Schaefer told the Hastings City Council of three projects they’ve been trying to get done for some time. The committee has $26,500 available to spend and has a quote from AVI for $33,037.18 to do the work. Schaefer asked for the difference of $6,537.18 to complete the projects.
However, questions were raised about this year’s committee budget for transitioning from analog to digital, which budget account would pay for the proposed work, the lack of requests for proposals or sealed bids, not following the normal process and noting the AVI offer was not a bid, but a proposal.
Councilman Don Smith suggested getting a representative of the city to determine exactly what the committee wants and the costs, for now, the next five years, the next ten years so other companies can bid on them.
Schaefer said he knew they should have done it differently, but he was learning. City Manager Jeff Mansfield complimented him on working very hard to come up to speed on the process. “It is confusing; it’s confusing even to people immersed in it on a daily basis.”
Mansfield said Schaefer can bring AVI’s proposal for the equipment and they will write a resolution for the council to review at its next meeting. They can then authorize the projects, “in a cleaner fashion.”
The proposed work is replacing the microphones in the council room due to age and performance; studio cleanup, an ongoing project that needs to be finished, and replacing the whiteboard in the council room with two 50-inch screens, so Livestream viewers at home can see what the council sees.//
The council also Monday agreed to participate in the Barry County Resource Recovery Project. The Barry County Solid Waste Oversight Committee is not asking for money, but is seeking agreements from governmental units that staff will support and actively participate in the project.
The resolution said a recycling program is important to the quality of life and economic well-being of Barry County, needs enough recyclable material to be viable economically, there are no preconceptions about the location or nature of what results or findings might include and the city can withdraw from the agreement at any time.
