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Ulster IDA hires vendor to livestream meetings
Feb 17, 2020 12:45 pm
William J. Kemble is reporting for the Daily Freeman the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency last week hired the Aaron LaCan Agency to live stream the IDA meetings and upload the video for online access. The agency will be paid $450 per meeting for live streaming and an additional $50 for making the recording available to the public. Officials said some of the cost will be passed to applicants that are seeking tax breaks, loans and service contracts from the board. "...[T]hat’s something that we’ll probably end up needing to punt to our governance committee because it’s going to have to be worked in to our fees going forward for applicants,” said board Chairman Randall Leverette. Leverette personally conducted the search for vendors, telling board members he received quotes of up to $2,000 per meeting. The state regulations require industrial development agencies to livestream “in real time” both regular meetings and public hearings. Agencies are also required to post recordings of those sessions within five days. It is unclear what the consequences are for noncompliance. Leverette said that state officials were asked if the agency could delay video coverage until a cost effective option was found. “She basically wrote back and said ‘you can’t use that as an excuse for not doing it,’” he said. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.