Mayor Butch Berry told council Monday night he has spoken with the Community Center Foundation about using the former EAST lab in the Center as a permanent location for all city meetings. The room would be ADA-compliant and there would be room to seat about 50 people. A drawback would be meetings would not be broadcast live on cable but tape-delayed.
He said the first offer from the Foundation would be to let the city use the space for the first two years for $20,000. The Foundation would furnish the space, and the city could set up the video equipment in a permanent location. After two years, the rent would be $1500 per month.
Alderman Bob Thomas asked why not instead just use the Auditorium, to which Berry replied the Aud might be busy on the regular meeting nights. David Mitchell added that the CAPC would be increasing the number of shows at the Aud, adding to possible conflicts.
Kristi Kendrick said it was more important to have space for more citizens at the meetings and the opportunity for a more convenient seating arrangement for aldermen than it is to have a live broadcast of every meeting.
Aldermen agreed to visit the facility at 4:30 p.m. before the May 22 meeting.