HUNTINGTON BEACH : Silence Golden for Old Sound System

City Council members had begun discussing a proposal to repair the failing audio system in their meeting chambers when the sound system itself seemingly lobbied for the item.

The glitch-ridden system went dead.

Unaided by amplification, council members were forced to shout their comments and questions to city staff members about the proposed repairs.

And, soon after the council unanimously agreed to spend $6,380 requested for the improvements, the sound system kicked on again.

Actually, the latest audio system letdown was not related to the problems for which the interim repairs were recommended, said Walter Eby, the city’s engineering supervisor in charge of the system. After a City Hall power failure had ended, electricity to the facility returned but the sound system didn’t, Eby said.

“We finally turned up that there was a sticky regulator in the back,” he said.

But, at least for the sake of appearances, the timely sound outage spotlighted the chronic problems of the system, which both amplifies voices in the council chambers and broadcasts them for cable television.

New wiring parts will be purchased to temporarily restore the system to a reliable state, eliminating most of the crackling noises and intermittent sound interruption that has plagued it, he said.

An engineering consultant has recommended that the city install a $20,000 wireless system to replace the existing one. And, although cumulative repairs on the current system are approaching that figure, the council has not yet agreed to buy a new system.