Town Board Votes To Live Broadcast All Meetings

The meeting room at town hall is pictured during Tuesday night’s board meeting. Long Islander News photo/Connor Beach

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Huntington residents will soon be able to watch live town, planning and zoning board meetings.

The town board voted unanimously Tuesday to have the meetings be both broadcast on television and streamed online as they happen.

The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Councilwoman Joan Cergol and Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, states that the meetings will be broadcast on Cablevision channel 18 and Verizon channel 38, and also streamed online through the town’s website, Huntingtonny.gov.

Broadcasts and streams are expected to begin next month, according to A.J. Carter, town spokesman.

Archived videos of the meetings have been available online since 2010.

Cergol said the board received requests from residents to livestream the meetings, and that town officials have the ability to implement the change using existing technological infrastructure at no additional cost to taxpayers.

She added, “It’s about kicking the town’s transparency up a notch. It’s good government and I’m proud to sponsor it with Supervisor Lupinacci.”

Lupinacci added, “Livestreaming offers residents immediate access to town board debates and actions, even if work, health or transportation issues keep them from the meetings.”