By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of Reno County Commissioners agreed Tuesday to add technology infrastructure to the conference room at the County Annex that would allow them to hold their meetings there, if they so chose.
"The cost for just the audio and visual is $20,000 to install," said County Administrator Randy Partington. "The TriCaster add-on would be $10,500, so the total would be $30,500."
The question from commissioners was whether other departments would get enough use out of it to justify the expense.
"All the directors over there had different ideas about classes they could hold and record them for people that aren't able to attend, whether it's distancing or just distance, regional meetings they could have or training they could give to members of the public and record it and put it on the YouTube page," Partington said.
At the end of the day, commissioner Ron Sellers believed it would pay for itself.
"I think we'll find that we'll save in excess of $30,000 in the next two or three years just on having people attend meetings via that room instead of travel and taking full days for a meeting," Sellers said. "We've learned during COVID that Zoom is a fantastic approach towards learning."
Commissioners approved the purchase unanimously.