Barnegat Officials Continue Shopping For Televised-Meeting Provider

Barnegat Township officials say they are in the process of getting bids for local cable access companies to televise the often-lively regular Township Committee meetings, which are held on alternative Mondays throughout the month.

Questioned by a resident Monday about where the bid process stood, Committeewoman Elaine Taylor said there are an array of packages that are being offered by a number of different companies, and she is currently reviewing them all to get the most out of the bid process.

She declined to give exact amounts of the bids, noting that they would have to be voted on during a meeting before any could be accepted.

Meanwhile, resident Morris Flory attended the meeting and made his own video of the meeting, which has been posted on YouTube.

Flory said he felt it was important to record the meetings so that people who were unable to get out of their homes or had other commitments on the nights of the meetings could view them at their leisure. Flory has videotaped meetings in the past, and they have been posted on the township's website.

Taylor ran for her seat in November on a campaign of openness among township officials, and told a Patch reporter at the time that getting the meetings televised was a goal of hers.

Asked by a Patch reporter why televised meetings, instead of Flory's answer of simply placing them on YouTube, was important, Taylor noted that not everyone in the community had access to a computer. 

Meanwhile, township officials said the town's revamped website is expected within the next week. Despite an overhaul of the town's webpage Taylor and other township officials said they felt some tweaks were needed, including a change in the layout of the home page.