City of Ligonier

In response to Indiana House Bill 1167, which mandates that government agencies record and stream public meetings to promote transparency and civic engagement, the City of Ligonier needed a turnkey solution to upgrade its City Council Hearing Room. The goal was to provide reliable, high-quality livestreaming and video archiving capabilities for City Council meetings, ensuring residents could access government proceedings remotely.

River Systems worked closely with Ligonier’s team to design an audio/video and streaming solution tailored to the chamber’s layout and integrated with Zoom Room and Zoom Webinar services.

The final system included automated camera and microphone technologies designed to focus precisely on individual speakers without the need for manual control. Intelligent PTZ cameras were configured to recognize and automatically frame each City Council Member as they began speaking, ensuring visually clear and consistent coverage throughout the meeting. 

Beamforming microphones were embedded at the council dais and throughout the room, capable of isolating each speaker’s voice while suppressing ambient noise. This setup not only provided exceptional audio clarity for livestream and archived recordings but also helped trigger the camera system to direct attention visually to whoever was speaking at the moment—creating a dynamic, broadcast-quality viewing experience for remote audiences.

Results
With the new system in place, the City of Ligonier is fully compliant with state laws. Meetings are now streamed live and archived for public access, reinforcing the city’s commitment to open government. The chamber technology is user-friendly and reliable, enabling city staff to operate it with minimal intervention.

Beyond compliance, the project has improved public access to local governance. Residents can stay informed without attending in person, helping drive civic engagement and transparency.

River Systems continues to support the City of Ligonier with ongoing maintenance, user support, and system updates to ensure long-term reliability and compliance.