Vermilion County Board members will have new sound and video capabilities when they convene for their meeting next week.
County Board Chairman Larry Baughn says the county has added an 82-inch television set where board members will be able to see other members who participate via Zoom. It includes a mounted camera that can rotate 180 degrees. He says that even after COVID-19 is over, the TV will be mounted near the front of the county board meeting chamber, where it will be used for PowerPoint presentations.
In addition, new speakers have been added high above the meeting chamber which will allow visitors who sit in the back of the meeting room to hear those who sit in the front of the room.
(Pictured: Baughn explains the new system to county board members Steve Fourez, far left, and Jerry Hawker.)
Baughn says the entire cost of the project was part of a $937,000 state reimbursement, as part of ongoing funds used for items related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its related expenses. He says some of the items the county was reimbursed for are staff salaries, personal protective equipment and other technology upgrades.
The first technology upgrades were done at the Vermilion County Courthouse, where monitors were provided to allow for remote court proceedings. Baughn says some recent proceedings were done remotely due to some judges going into quarantine.
County board meetings have taken place inside the former federal courthouse, now known as the Vermilion County Administration Building, for the past two years. Previously, the board met at the Courthouse Annex, which is now vacant and awaiting demolition. The board renamed its meeting chamber as the “Ivadale Foster Vermilion County Chambers” a year ago in memory of the first Black woman on the board, who represented District 8 for 36 years.
