Aspen City Council signed off on a plan Monday to tape and rebroadcast all of its work sessions on GrassRoots TV sister station Community Government TV.
The official taping began with Tuesday’s work session, which was carried live.
The city already tapes and typically broadcasts live all regular City Council meetings, of which there are two per month. The city’s contract with GrassRoots TV allows for the taping of an additional 24 meetings per year at no additional cost to the city. With one additional meeting already taped, the city will use the 23 free meetings it has left on work sessions. After that, work sessions will cost $150 per episode to tape and rebroadcast. There are approximately 40 work sessions left this year.
CGTV is seen on channel 11 on local cable providers. The city of Aspen shares the airwaves with Snowmass Village Town Council and the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners, neither of which broadcast their work sessions. Snowmass and BOCC representatives have given their blessing to Aspen’s work session broadcasts, as long as they do not interfere with live broadcasts of Snowmass or county regular meetings, CGTV station manager Brad Manosevitz said.
Work sessions, while open to the public, are not formal meetings, but often are the venue for important policy discussions and decisions voted on by the council that provide policy direction to city staff members.
The city has also recently approved a plan, set to start later this summer, to webcast its meetings and archive them in a searchable online database.
curtis@aspendailynews.com
