Lincolnshire board meetings headed for Web

Lincolnshire officials are excited about putting videos of village meetings on the town's Web site starting next month.

"It adds access and flexibility," Trustee Dan Servi said of the digital service. "This way, people can look at (meetings) whenever they want to. It's much more convenient."

The village board's Monday night sessions won't be the only meetings archived on Lincolnshire's Web site, www.village.lincolnshire.il.us. Videos of committee discussions will be posted, too, officials have said.

Archiving four months' worth of meeting videos at a time on the Web site likely will cost between $200 and $250 a month, village officials said. The fee is so small, administrators decided to move ahead with the program without board approval.

Lincolnshire residents and merchants have several ways to follow village business without attending meetings. Board sessions are aired live on local cable television and rebroadcast later in the week. Audio and video recordings of the meetings are available for purchase, too.

Going to the Web gives people who don't have cable TV another way to stay informed about village business, Trustee David Saltiel said.

Officials will track how many people download the meeting videos and will consider further Web-based services, such as live Web broadcasts, depending on demand, Saltiel said.

The municipal boards in Mundelein, Addison, Wood Dale, Naperville and Glenview are among the few government agencies in the area offering videos of meetings online. The Aurora-based Indian Prairie Unit School District 204 board puts video of its meetings on its Web site, too.

The Gurnee village board posts sound recordings of its meetings on the Web, but not video.