Elgin might stream its meetings online

Don't feel like braving the cold this winter to attend an Elgin City Council meeting?

You may not have to.

City council members on Wednesday will review an agreement with Granicus Inc. to stream recorded videos of city meetings online.

If approved, the new technology could be in place by the first of the year, spokeswoman Sue Olafson said.

"It's a good customer service tool," Olafson said. "We're kind of excited about the launch."

Under the terms of the agreement, the city would pay nearly $17,000 in startup costs and an additional $760 a month for the service.

San Francisco-based Granicus would then post recorded videos of all city council meetings, committee of the whole meetings and planning and development commission meetings on the city's Web site, www.cityofelgin.org.

Depending on the interest, city officials may expand the program to include other meetings or programming.

"It's certainly something we would consider," Olafson said.

The videos would be posted online one to three hours after the meetings conclude, she said.

Residents will be able to watch the meetings in their entirety, or click on specific agenda items to watch portions of the meetings that they are interested in seeing.

"Hopefully it will work the way they've demonstrated," Olafson said.

Similar technology is already used by municipal boards in Addison, Glenview, Mundelein, Naperville and Wood Dale. Aurora-based Indian Prairie Unit School District 204's board also puts video of its meetings online.

In Elgin, the city council first discussed the idea of putting meetings online more than a year ago. But council members didn't solicit proposals until August.