72°F
weather icon Windy

City boosts video recording program

Boulder City residents will soon be able to view more city meetings online as City Council approved creating a new staff position to ensure that all the meetings are recorded.

At its meeting Tuesday, council approved changing the part-time Boulder City TV technician position to a full-time digital technician position to allow for all committee and commission meetings to be video recorded and posted to BCTV, the city’s website and the city’s YouTube account. By being on YouTube, the recordings will be closed captioned for those who are deaf and hard of hearing.

“The staffing will require specific technical directing experience and the schedule does need some sort of flexibility because of the various hours that meetings are held,” said Communications Manager Lisa LaPlante.

According to the agenda packet, staff estimated it will take an additional 700-900 hours of time per year to bring this to fruition and current staff levels do not support it. Staff recommended making current part-time BCTV technician Holly Webb, who works approximately 80 hours a month, the new full-time digital technician.

The new salary and job classification would start at $39,900 per year plus benefits, making it a total cost of $66,554, which will cost $43,600 more this fiscal year. The money to cover the increase would come from reallocating money from professional services to salary and benefits.

“This is about, for me, creating equal access to information,” said Councilman James Adams, who campaigned for all meetings to recorded and close-captioned.

Councilman Warren Harhay asked where the videos would be archived and how easily they would be made available to the public.

City Clerk Lorene Krumm said staff would fulfill them as quickly as possible. Currently, council meetings are available on the city’s website by 8 a.m. the day after a meeting. Staff can also provide DVDs of the meetings.

“We try to provide several formats for people who request it,” she added.

Councilwoman Tracy Folda asked whether the job description for the position could be changed at a later time if it is approved now.

City Manager Al Noyola said minor changes could be me made, but any changes to pay scale or other major components would have to be approved by council.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, council:

■ Approved a text amendment to Chapter 2 of the Boulder City Code to change the name of the land management plan to the land management process and include an automatic City Council review of every parcel three years after it was added.

■ Approved a $5,000 special event promotion grant to the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce for Christmas events in a 4-1 vote, with Folda voting against it.

■ Approved a land lease agreement with See Spot Run to continue operating the dog park at Veterans’ Memorial Park for another five years.

■ Approved an agreement between the city and Gard Jameson to purchase approximately 8,000 square feet of city land adjacent to 115 Casa Montana Court in order to incorporate property improvements that had been made.

■ Tabled action on an amendment to a land lease agreement for the radio-controlled car racetrack on Quail Run Drive to allow cars driven by people. Council wanted to hear more information from the lessee and potential sublessee about the specific racing and activities that would occur there.

■ Reappointed Blair Davenport to the Historic Preservation Committee.

■ Approved land lease agreements with GoGo LLC to access and operate its communication facilities on top of Red Mountain.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Council candidate slate set

A total of seven candidates for city council and three candidates for justice of the peace of Boulder Township will face off in the primary election scheduled for June 11.

Ultrarunner to push himself to the limit

It’s not uncommon for friends or even family members to try and best one another whether that be athletics, academics or relationships.

Vets home hit with 18 citations

In a recent unannounced inspection, the Southern Nevada State Veterans’ Home was cited 18 times for issues ranging from verbal abuse of a patient to failing to provide meals at an appropriate temperature, to employees not having keys to locked gates, which would be needed in the case of an emergency evacuation.

BDCU looks back on past year at annual meeting

For more than eight decades, the Boulder Dam Credit Union has been the most popular place for Boulder City residents to do their banking, not to mention see friends and neighbors.

Top o’ the evening to ya

Photos by Ron Eland/Boulder City Review

BC repaint: Countdown is on

It’s almost time to don that old pair of jeans, the ratty tennis shoes in the back of your closet and a shirt you’re not worried about ruining.

Management of veterans’ home sparks controversy

Documents provided to the Boulder City Review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) appear to back up many of the accusations leveled at the Nevada Department of Veterans Services (NDVS) and leadership of the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home which is located in Boulder City by current and former employees over the past year. Many of the same issues were also noted by CMS surveyors in an inspection of the home that occurred in January.

Spending for proposed pool to be on Nov. ballot

During Tuesday’s Boulder City Council meeting, City Manager Taylour Tedder may have summed things up best.

Historic preservation event set for May

It’s a couple of months away, but scheduling for events tied to Historic Preservation Day — slated for May 11 —are pretty set and revolve around the theme of Trains, Planes and Automobiles.