The County of Stettler council voted 4 to 1 in favour of buying a new $28,000 audio system for their meeting room. The decision was made at the Oct. 8 regular meeting of council.

The topic came up on the council request for information part of the agenda, Reeve Larry Clarke noted he requested this topic be discussed.

Director of Municipal Services Andrew Brysiuk provided councillors with a report, noting in his memo, “Council has expressed a desire to improve the discussion system in council to be more reliable and flexible.”

Brysiuk stated that the current system has caused it’s fair share of problems for councillors and staff. “When the county first invested in the microphone system for council chambers the system chosen was extremely cost-effective, but as it was designed for classrooms it does not translate well to conference room/legislative use,” stated the staff memo.

“The current system is only capable of allowing one person to speak at a time which results in being unable to get the attention of a speaker online for a question and can cause a speaker to be interrupted by a louder noise such as coughing, muting the speaker and amplifying the noise. The microphones are also confusing to use, mute and power due to the lights, aggressive automatic muting and narrow pick-up pattern.”

Brysiuk stated he did some research and was able to get a quote for a suitable system that met all County of Stettler requirements. “The new system will have centralized control which will allow the chair to have priority, prevent noise from getting amplified and allow the council to be better heard even when the mics are not used diligently,” stated Brysiuk’s report. “The new system will also allow participants to utilize headphones for hearing accessibility.

“The quote is $28,861 for the proposed system. The expense was unbudgeted but between $14,000 and $21,000 may be available in operating funds (by the end of 2025),” added the report. Brysiuk observed that the balance would come from reserves if councillors wished.

Reeve Clarke stated he wanted to discuss this issue because recent visits to both Paintearth and Kneehill council chambers revealed limitations in the County of Stettler’s audio system. Clarke stated that he’s also heard from the public that the audio system, which also records audio for broadcast on the county’s YouTube channel, isn’t always as clear or legible as the public may desire.

Clarke stated the County of Stettler hears regularly from the public that transparency is important and he felt a new, better audio system may help achieve that goal. Clarke added that the current audio system is fairly old in technology years.

Coun. Ernie Gendre agreed, adding that technology does require updating and replacement on a regular basis.

Councillors voted 4 to 1 in favour of purchasing the new audio system as staff described, Coun. Justin Stevens the lone dissenter.