Exeter posting meeting videos on township's Web site
Residents can monitor municipal government sessions
April 5, 2008
By ERIN NEGLEY
Reading Eagle
HARRISBURG — People interested in Exeter Township government have another option for staying informed if they can't attend supervisors meetings.
Exeter is posting video of the meetings on the township Web site.
Supervisor Michelle P. Kircher first suggested the webcasts in July, and Supervisor Don R. Wilson again raised the issue after hearing that Emmaus in Lehigh County is doing it.
"There's always been points of contention that the printed minutes aren't what exactly happened," Wilson said. "If somebody couldn't make it, now they can hear what happened."
Video of local government meetings on the Internet is still scarce in Berks County, although Berks Community Television posts live webcasts of the county commissioners meetings.
By June, BCTV hopes to have the ability to archive the county meetings and some Reading government meetings on the Web site so viewers can access them at any time.
"If we had more resources, we would do more municipalities," said Ann Sheehan, BCTV executive director. "It makes government more accessible to the people."
Exeter isn't spending a lot of money getting online. The two cameras cost less than $1,500 and resident Eddie Machado has volunteered to record and edit the meetings. He is a video editor with Center City Film & Video in Philadelphia.
Machado set up the cameras at a supervisors meeting March 10. Video of that meeting and one on March 24 are posted on the township's Web site.
Wilson said he hopes meetings of other Exeter boards, such as the planning commission, also will be posted in the future.
Supervisors Chairwoman Dona L. Starr said webcasting the meetings is a fabulous idea. It allows residents to view what happened instead of reading about it.
"It's so different when you're reading minutes off our Web site than if you're there," she said.
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