Port Hope council’s August meeting on Tuesday night was held virtually, as have other previous meetings, while audio and visual upgrade work continues in council chambers.
Council approved $175,000 in the 2025 budget for the upgrades.
Municipal clerk Shrishma Davé said during Tuesday’s meeting that work is on schedule, but meetings are expected to continue to be held virtually throughout September.
“We do anticipate full use of that room starting October, but in the interim we do also anticipate that meetings will continue to be virtual for council as well as committee-of-the-whole or special council for the month of September,” she said, noting they want the changes to take effect as soon as possible while also being mindful of the heritage aspect at Port Hope’s town hall.
Davé also said she’s been advised of some misinformation spreading in the community with respect to the virtual meetings that have been held and being a permanent change.
“That is absolutely not the case,” Davé said. “We are holding meetings through our virtual platform in accordance with the procedural bylaw for a temporary basis until the work in council chambers is completed.”
Davé said anyone with questions can contact the clerk’s office by calling town hall at 905-885-4544 or by e-mailing clerk@porthope.ca.
Councillor Claire Holloway Wadhwani asked Davé what could be expected of the new technology upgrades as that was unknown at the time of the last report.
Davé said the contract was awarded to MacLean Media Systems, which has completed similar work to more than 30 municipalities large and small.
“They have a very strong understanding of the needs of our council members, of our public as well as for staff,” Davé said. “The solution they are presenting, as I understand it, is turn-key. They’re going to be using a system where we’re going to be able to manage audio/visual from one centralized location – a tablet or a laptop – and then we’re going to be able to not only be able to see council members on the livestream, the people who are viewing the livestream will also be able to see what is being presented.
There’s going to be functionality for hybrid meetings as well so, for example, if there are council members who are unable to attend a meeting for some particular reason…they will still be able to log on to attend a meeting virtually. The same goes for staff members as well and it will also be an option that we’ll most likely be offering to our delegates as well as to consultants.”
The livestream will also feature video of delegates who are speaking to council.
Davé noted that changes to the procedural bylaw are likely to be expected, but there is some flexibility in the current bylaw until changes are made.
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