HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-26-07PEG Special Meeting Minutes, July 26, 2007
• 2:00 PM in Mark's Classroom. Members attending were Gary Nelson, Karen
Nelson, Tom Opstad, Geoff Masci, Kitti deLong. John Watts arrived at 2:25 PM.
Also attending was Sherry Jones.
Sherry Jones presented the research she has done on applying for a full -power
FM radio station license with the disclaimer that she is not presently an active
attorney, that she is not giving legal advice, and that we need to check her
research with an FCC attorney. One engineer Sherry contacted says that there is
available band width but there is a problem with overlapping Canadian band
width. That is an issue but it is not insurmountable. As far as the application that
was essentially denied in 2003 from Radio PT, Mary Gay was heading the
application process. He said the applications in the state were taken as a group.
Washington was in the last group to be processed and before the application was
submitted, the FCC withdrew the offer to accept any more applications.
Discussion.
One engineer at Hatfield and Dawson recommended by KPLU said that we
would need from $1-2,000. We would need about $1,000 to do the work for the
application and a couple of extra hours to fill out the forms. Discussion.
Sherry stated that in considering the height for a radio tower, the high school is a
• good choice for the site. Discussion.
As far as the organizational issues, licenses can be granted to nonprofit
educational institutions, governmental entities other than schools, and nonprofits
other than the above. The organization must have a mission that advances the
educational aspect. Discussion.
The organization can transfer ownership after getting the license as long as you
have an eligible organization with the same number of points. In the question of
whether or not you need to be an established local applicant, you get points for
being in PT more than two years. Discussion.
In regard to cost, the only thing you have to pay before the application is
submitted is the engineer and any consulting on the FCC application. Geoff
Masci suggested that we go forward and hire the engineer recommended by
KPLU. It appears that with his assistance, the radio license can be secured on
behalf of all the citizens of our community for under $2,000.
As far as grants, the station in Olympia, TVW, started in 2004. TVW cost
$150,000 to start, although there are numbers that are higher and numbers that
are lower. A Federal government agency funded about half, $72,000. You must
say in the application that you have enough money to construct the station and
run if for three months. Or the alternative is to submit the application and have it
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contingent upon acquiring funding. Sherry stated that she thinks that there are a
116 lot of really good people available who could be gathered together to make a
team to succeed in this project. Discussion on ways to find the necessary funds
for the engineer. John arrived at 2:25 PM. The discussion continued. The group
agreed to continue with the application process contingent on funding to be
acquired after the application has been submitted.
Discussion on the PTTV Station Manager interim position job description. It was
agreed to call the position "Production Manager' and that the duties would be
essentially those that Gary Lemons had been doing. It was also agreed to
remove the first line on page two since we expect that function to be
accomplished in a different manner. Karen asked if we have to post if we need to
extend the term of the Production Manager's job. John said that, no, we could
just extend the time since it is clear that this job is for a temporary, undefined
period. Discussion.
Discussion on the structural organization of a nonprofit. Geoff drew the present
structure on the whiteboard and the first draft of a new structure. Discussion on
whether or not to have term limits for Board members. Discussion on the number
of Board members that would be optimal. John asked if it is a good idea to
continue to have three Board members from each of the three legs, which would
not change the present structure. He felt the structure of the Board should
change. Discussion on the best way to structure the Board. John suggested that
• we be independent in the manner that channel 9 is. Discussion. Kitti asked if we
could have a contract with the City to continue to receive our franchise fees. John
stated that he expected that there would be a contract written and ready to sign
once we have changed to nonprofit status. Discussion. Sherry asked if we had
considered having people on the Board who would be providers of high quality
content like, possibly, Centrum. Discussion. The matter of the structure of the
Board will be continued at the next meeting.
John asked Kitti and Karen to ask Scott Schmidt from BIN some questions
before the next meeting:
What is right with their organization?
What is wrong with their organization?
What changes would you like to make?
How are their Board members chosen? Are they elected or appointed?
What is their connection to the City of Bainbridge and their County?
Who handles fund raising?
Does the fund raising arm have its own budget? Is it an arm of the station
or a completely separate entity?
Discussion. John said the request to advertise for the Interim Production
Manager would be before the City Council on August 6.
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John and Sherry left at 3:25 PM. Mark Welch arrived at 3:30 PM and agreed with
• the changes to the job description to reflect that we would hire an Interim
Production Manager. Mark will call John to give his okay to the Interim Station
Manger's job description. Meeting ended at 3:35 PM.
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