The way has been cleared for web streaming of town council meetings and it could be functional in six to eight weeks.

Council has agreed to spend $40,000 on a three-camera streaming service in addition to taking $10,000 out of the life cycle reserve to replace some ageing components of the existing system.

Marni Fedeyko, who brought forward the notice of motion to institute internet streaming, still hesitated to support administration's recommendation because of the cost of the system and the lack of details provided. In the end, she believes it will be a benefit for residents.

"I think it's something that's important for council, not because I think 27,000 people are going to watch it on a Monday night, but I think it allows residents to be able to go back and find out how things were decided and why councillors voted the way they did. It brings a whole new level of accountability."

The video will be archived and available via the town's YouTube channel long after meetings. The footage is also being time stamped so you can go directly to where a particular topic was being discussed rather than viewing the entire meeting.

Still, Fedeyko is having a hard time with the $40,000 price tag and she hesitated both times the cost was discussed at council since she introduced the notice of motion at the new council's first meeting in October.

"I'm still not overly happy with the price. I think it's worth doing, but I think residents are going to have a hard time understanding what we're paying for."

"My difficulty with the decision is we don't really know who those quotes came from. I was hoping to see some of that information Monday rather than we've done our job, we've got a couple of quotes and this is what it came back as. To me, it's not that much different than what was first proposed."

Council was not made privy to the quotes received or the specifics on what is being provided and that is something she'd still like to see to.

"It's important because I don't want the community to think I just came up with an idea and pushed it through and we're going to spend 'x' amount of money on it. I want to make sure they understand that we've done it in the best way possible."

The administration received two price quotes that fell within the $40,000 approved in the legislative services operating budget. Other vendors were contacted, explains the report prepared by Jaylene Knight, manager of legislative services, but were unable to work with the chamber's existing Crestron system.

The upgrades in the existing system were scheduled to be considered during the town's 2019 deliberations but have been moved forward to complement the new streaming system. That $10,000 is coming from the town's lifecycle reserve.

Councillor Alex Reed said he was uncertain how many people would utilize the streaming service but he fully endorsed the project based on his constant aim for transparency in the town's operation.

Mayor Jeff Genung said he was initially worried about the price tag but believes its money well spent to have an effective system. He says he has taken the time to view streaming of other councils and found some were not comprehensive for the viewers.