Lightning strike damages city systems, sparking change to City Council meeting streams

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A lightning strike is to blame for ongoing issues with the City Council livestream. Citizens tuning into last month’s meeting likely noticed a number of issues, including but not limited to increased latency and an absence of on-screen vote tallies.

According to city spokesman Casey Williams, a lightning strike had damaged key equipment in the council chambers, causing technical difficulties. Approximately 40 devices across Parks and Recreation, the Professional Integrity Unit, and council chambers were impacted.

Repairs underway

The IT staff worked throughout the last month and replaced 24 damaged devices with other equipment sent off for repairs.

“Our team is in the process of repairing and replacing the damaged equipment, as well as upgrading some of our systems to prevent future issues,” said Amie Wilson, the city’s chief information officer. “We understand that citizens’ access to City Council proceedings is extremely important, especially around election times, and we are working hard in IT to provide the best access possible.”

While the captioning encoders are being repaired, the city is employing a cloud-based service for closed captioning on the city website. Facebook captions are being handled by the platform.

Vote tallies are expected to again be displayed on the livestream beginning with the next regular session.

Moving to YouTube

As part of the plan to improve digital access to council meetings, livestreams will move from Facebook Live to YouTube on Oct. 27.

Williams said the change will provide citizens a number of benefits, including increased stability, better accessibility tools and improved access to recordings after meetings have ended.

Prior to switching platforms, the city will provide notice at council meetings and via social media. A link to the city’s YouTube channel will be shared on Facebook prior to every meeting’s start.

Livestreams will also remain available on the city’s website.

Montgomery County Government also uses YouTube for meeting livestreams.

“Switching platforms is a big change for some residents, and we want to make sure that they are well informed and don’t miss out on anything. We’ll be making multiple announcements before going live on a new platform,” Williams added.

To receive alerts when the city goes live, visit the City of Clarksville’s YouTube channel and hit the “Subscribe” button as well as the bell icon to turn on notifications.