At their Dec. 18 meeting, the Lincoln County Television (LCTV) Board of Trustees celebrated moving into their new building, and beginning to set-up it as a television production studio.
The trustees started their meeting by welcoming new Damariscotta members Anne Pinkham and Laura Cooley. They elected officers for their board. The group is the same as last year, with Charlotte Davenhill as president, John Emerson as vice president, Mitchell Wellman as treasurer, and Karen O’Bryan as secretary.
They discussed progress on the new facility and expressed appreciation to the volunteers present.
The original 1972 trailer was purchased in 1992, according to Station Manager Mary Ellen Crowley. The new mobile home is twice the size of the old one.
It was formerly a mobile classroom for SAD 40, but LCTV was able to purchase it for $100. The building needed to be sawed in half, moved from Waldoboro, and reassembled. That accounted for the majority of expense of the project, Crowley said.
They occupied the old building for 16 of the 20 years they have been in existence, Crowley said. LCTV reached its 20th anniversary Dec. 8.
A dedicated group of volunteers has been working hard to get the project buttoned up before snow blanketed the region. With tremendous effort they finished just in time. Crowley said they graded the site in early October and moved the building approximately two weeks later.
The late Sam Pennington helped LCTV obtain this new building with a $50,000 donation as part of his estate. Crowley explained Pennington was very involved with LCTV. He was even president of the board at one time.
“He was a great proponent of free speech, civil liberties, and the community,” she said. “He upgraded our broadcast equipment during his time as president. He made sure we had state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment.”
So far, a little more than half the money has gone to grading and preparing the site, having the building disassembled, moved, reassembled, and installing electricity and plumbing, Crowley said.
“It will cover a lot of the costs of getting this facility up and running,” Crowley said. “We never would have been able to do what we’ve done without this money.”
The remaining money is invested for long-term growth, in an account similar to a certificate of deposit. Crowley and the trustees wanted to ensure LCTV gained the most interest from the remaining money, while taking on the least risk. The account is only a capital fund, and will not be used for operating expenses, she said.
Right now, 10 towns receive LCTV’s broadcasts. Community members with cable television in Newcastle, Damariscotta, Nobleboro, Waldoboro, Wiscasset, Alna, Westport, Bristol, Edgecomb, and Dresden may watch programs on LCTV, Crowley said.
The facility will also teach classes on operating equipment and editing in the future, and allow residents from the above towns to shoot their own programs in the studio. Crowley said the new building helps make all that possible.
She explained the station operates using a portion of the franchise fees that participating towns collect from Time Warner Cable, the local cable provider. Last year, trustees requested 50 percent of franchise fees received from Time Warner from each town. Not every town was able to participate at that level.
They are in the process of requesting funds from towns during their respective budget processes this year. Crowley and Martha Frink, a Newcastle trustee, made their pitch to the Newcastle Board of Selectmen on Dec. 8.
“It is imperative for us to receive those franchise fees to operate, considering the towns we serve, and the amount of people who benefit from our services,” Crowley said.
If five towns out of the 10 were to donate 50 percent of the franchise fees as requested, the budget could increase as much as $40,000, according to Crowley. That would provide enough to have a full-time station manager.
Crowley is currently limited to 10 hours per week. The additional weekly allotment of hours would allow the community much more access to public broadcasting, she said.
“Getting towns to set-up contracts to support public television is difficult, because government funds are so tight,” Crowley said. “We provide this channel at no cost to viewers, provide training, and use of the equipment and studio. People lose sight of how important community television is.”
Crowley explained the history of public access television. The local cable company was required to provide the stations with training and equipment. In Lincoln County, Time Warner has provided cable television since 2006. Before that, Adelphia was the local provider. She said it has been years since they’ve fulfilled those obligations.
LCTV provides citizens better access to their local government. Three towns, Damariscotta, Wiscasset, and Waldoboro broadcast various meetings, including the board of selectmen meetings, Crowley said.
In the future there could be three public access channels offered by LCTV if they could obtain the funding. She said LCTV currently has the capacity to provide two channels.
They are a PEG station, which stands for Public, Education, and Government, according to Crowley. She explained in bigger cities, each area of focus has its own broadcast channel.
“With enough programming we could split the one channel up into two,” Crowley said. “The second channel might have government programming at night, and educational programs during day.”
Presently, the station runs bulletin board ads between shows, or in five minute, 15 minute, or half hour segments, she said. Each clip runs maybe 10 seconds.
Local non-profit or government groups, schools, and even individuals, can make a bulletin board posting. Crowley estimates 65 bulletin board ads are running on the station currently.
Events listed include guest speakers, luncheons, church services, and baked bean suppers. Waldoboro even posts parking notices on the channel during the winter months, she said.
To increase the number of people who can tune in to public access programming, the towns need to work out agreements with the cable companies to provide more cable accessible areas.
“Public access television came about because of cable television,” Crowley said. “It didn’t exist before then.”