Video, Audio Streaming Of Bridgewater Meetings To Be Upgraded For Residents

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Township residents will soon be able to better hear and see all Bridgewater Township meetings if the mayor and council pass an ordinance to spend $112,879.

An ordinance is set to be introduced at the Monday night Mayor and Council meeting to appropriate the money from the capital improvement fund to upgrade its audio and visual(AV) equipment for the council chambers and courtroom.

The public will have a chance to speak before a vote on the introduction. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. virtually, or in-person with live stream in the courtroom located at the Municipal Complex 100 Commons Way, Bridgewater.

"I'm very excited we are making these improvements," said Councilman Michael Kirsh at the previous Nov. 10 meeting. "I feel like it's an investment in our democracy, candidly. We are a first-rate community and we need to portray ourselves that way. And I think through these improvements we are getting there."

During the previous meeting, Scott Stephens put on a presentation to the council with Claudia Figelman of Visual Sound, Inc.

Stephens noted that the AV system was first installed in the courtroom in 2008 and since then there have been "several patchwork fixes but really they were just that - patchwork."

He said the township has a bunch of complex cumbersome pieces where "everything is disjointed and frankly just isn't working very well."

What is being proposed with the roughly $112,000 is to install all new microphones to clear up audio issues, the council dais will get new monitors for visual presentations, new and bigger monitors will be placed throughout the room to allow the audience to see more clearly, and a new HD camera will stream out to the public.

Some of these upgrades such as monitors will also be placed into overflow areas for bigger meetings such as the conference rooms and lobby.

If the introduction of the ordinance is passed on Dec. 5 and the final vote is passed at the Dec. 19 meeting then the council is expecting the new system to be in place by February 2023.

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