Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, May 9,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
City of Dawsonville now broadcasting meetings
Allie Dean Dawson County News
Dawsonville Mayor Mike Eason, left, reviews
plans April 25 for a new video streaming and
recording system that was recently installed in
the meeting rooms at city hall. Graham White,
project manager for WH Platts, the company the
city council hired to install the equipment,
explains where the cameras and new lighting fix
tures will be placed.
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Despite the small hiccup
of home viewers not being
able to hear what was said,
the city of Dawsonville on
Monday debuted a new
video streaming and
recording system and for
the first time ever broadcast
a city council meeting live
on Facebook.
In March the council
voted to have WH Platts
install audio, video and
lighting elements to the
main meeting room so that
the city could record and
broadcast its meetings.
The room already had an
audio system, but David
Strupp with WH Platts said
the only thing his company
could likely salvage were
the microphones.
WH Platts was the low
bidder and has installed
similar systems at Hall
County, the city of
Gainesville and the city of
Johns Creek.
The cost of the system
was around $60,000.
Graham White, project
manager for WH Platts,
was working to install the
system on April 25.
He explained the impor
tance of good lighting for
streaming meetings, and
said that the Gainesville
audio visual system has
been a blueprint for the
other city government
streaming systems in the
area.
“We’ve probably done
five other city governments
now, and we’re kind of the
go-to company for that
whole template,” White
said. “It’s been good; this is
kind of our recipe.”
He pointed out the three
cameras mounted in the
back of the room to allow
for different views of the
council members, mayor
and staff, and a fourth cam
era that faces the podium,
where staff and other
speakers address the coun
cil and mayor.
Two monitors are
mounted on either side of
the council bench, and
each council member and
the mayor have their own
monitor as well.
The city also set up the
Joe Lane Cox conference
room as an overflow room,
with a monitor and sound,
so that if the main meeting
room was ever too full, citi
zens could still see and
hear what was happening
from the adjacent room.
Four speakers are now
installed in the meeting
room as opposed to just
two.
A control room right out
side the main meeting
room houses a desk-
mounted control panel for
the whole system. The
operator can switch
between cameras depend
ing on who is speaking.
“For these meetings, it
can be one person operat
ing the whole show,” White
said. “It will be a good sys
tem; they got the good toys
for sure.”
But when it came time
to test the system in real
time at 7 p.m. on Monday,
the city couldn’t quite get
the show off the ground.
The video streamed online,
but no audio could be
heard.
Though the system’s
inaugural voyage was a lit
tle less than perfect, coun
cil members are hopeful
that the broadcast will aid
in the city’s transparency
and help get citizens
involved.
“It’s important that we
have this available for
those who are unable to
attend for whatever reason,
so they can see what is
going on and participate at
least on some level,” said
councilman Mark French.
It’s safe to say the audio
issues will be resolved
before the next meeting.
Former commissioner recognized for work with Keep Dawson County Beautiful
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By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County cele
brated Arbor Day on
Friday, April 27 with a tree
planting ceremony to rec
ognize former Dawson
County Commission
Chairman Mike Berg as
Tree Preservationist of the
Year.
Clark MacAllister, coun
ty extension agent and
advisor with the Dawson
County Tree Preservation
Committee, along with
members of the tree com
mittee, members of Keep
Dawson County Beautiful
and other members of the
community were present at
the ceremony in which a
tree was dedicated to Berg.
The tree, an Overcup
oak, was planted on a hill
to the left of the veterans
memorial at Veterans
Memorial Park. An
engraved stone sits at the
base, honoring Berg for
“maintaining the natural
beauty of Dawson
County.”
“We try to pick a Tree
Preservationist of the Year
to honor, someone who
has devoted a lot of time to
the county and hopefully
trying to preserve the natu
ral beauty of Dawson
County,” MacAllister said.
“Those of us who live here
in the county or close by,
(nature) is definitely a big
draw as to why we live
here.
“I can’t really do justice
to Mike and all he’s done
for the county here.”
Berg spoke about the
history of the Tree
Preservation Committee
and its origins during his
time as chairman of the
board of commissioners.
Berg and his wife Jane
also started the Keep
Dawson County Beautiful
group in 2003.
“We were getting to a
point where we had devel
opment and we needed to
have some line in the sand
about what you could and
couldn’t do,” Berg said.
on being a good steward of
what we have in our coun
ty. I think we all agree that
we live in the most beauti
ful place we could,”
Haynes said. “One thing I
learned from day one with
Mike is that we’re going to
be a good steward of what
we have so that future gen
erations can enjoy it even
more than we do. We
appreciate the legacy that
you’ve left.”
Berg is also a member
of the Coosa North
Georgia Regional Water
Planning Council and
serves as administrative
chair, executive secretary
and assistant governor of
the Rotary Club of
Dawson County as well as
an assistant governor of
Rotary district 6910.
He is the 11th recipient
of the award since its
inception in 2006. His
wife was recognized with
the same award in 2016.
The tree was donated by
Kinsey Family Farms in
Forsyth County, and the
stone was engraved by
Kenny Horah of Southern
Sand Designs.
Keep Dawson County
Beautiful is an affiliate of
Keep America Beautiful
and Keep Georgia
Beautiful.
According to its website,
Keep Dawson County
Beautiful focuses on
bringing meaningful
change to our environment
through quality of life ser
vices including litter pre
vention, solid waste plan
ning and coordination,
environmental education,
beautification and conser
vation.
Members include
Executive Director Robbie
Irvin, Chair Paula Alicea,
Vice Chair Kristi Hudson,
Secretary Tiffany Davis,
Berg, Louise McPherson
and Sophia Dearwent.
Allie Dean Dawson County News
Former Dawson County Commission Chairman
Mike Berg, center, poses after being awarded Tree
Preservationist of the Year on April 27. A tree was
planted in Berg's honor at Veterans Memorial
Park.
“Both these organizations
do such a great job and
I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Dawson County
Chamber of Commerce
President Christie Haynes
said that Berg was a good
steward of the county dur
ing his time on the com
mission.
“One thing I think that
cannot be said enough
about our former chair
man, Mike Berg, is just the
importance that he placed
o-o
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