Darren Leiker, a county manager's office staff member, told commissioners the county will begin an audio-visual upgrade in the BOCC hearing room on Monday, Oct. 27, with an estimated timeline of about three weeks and a projected completion around Nov. 14.

Leiker said the project responds to aging equipment: much of the current hardware has exceeded its useful life (he described typical useful life as four to seven years while much equipment is approaching 10 to 11 years). The upgrade is designed to improve system reliability, add meeting flexibility and enhance viewing and control-room capabilities.

Planned improvements include a movable podium to support flexible room setups, wireless microphones, presenter tools with touch-and-annotation capability, the ability to show multiple sources on dais monitors, new back-wall monitors for better viewing, improved camera placements and a three-year support agreement on the installed equipment. Leiker said the work "will require us to relocate our meetings to meetings, because we don't meet next week. We are relocating, downstairs, out of Room 200." He added that commissioners will see temporary cameras and that meetings will be broadcast on YouTube and recorded for posting on the county website.

Commissioner Ashcraft asked whether the sound system in the temporary meeting space could be made functional; Leiker replied the county will "work on that and make sure it's working and see if we can enhance anything." Commissioner Hanzlick asked whether the meetings downstairs would still be broadcast; Leiker confirmed they would be.

Leiker closed by inviting questions and said staff will manage the temporary set-up and provide three-year support for the new system.