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On TV!
Town Council Invests
$69,000-Plus for Cable Access Channel
Resident Josh Fuller said he thought the town
was spending far too much on this project
 Councilman
Isaac Salver will research what kind of programming Bay Harbor’s
future channel could have.
By Evan Berkowitz
Bay Harbor Islands
residents will soon be able to watch Town Council meetings in
the comfort of their own living rooms, thanks to a new cable
access channel and broadcast facilities that will be built
within their Town Hall.
The exact date when the town’s mini-TV station
will be completed is not yet known, nor is the exact channel
that the meetings will be broadcast on. “We have to work that
out,” Town Clerk Marlene Marante said.
At their Jan. 8 meeting, town officials
unanimously agreed to award an $18,500 contract to construct a
broadcast room, likely to be in the corner of the council
chambers, to DZP Group, Inc. They also agreed unanimously to
purchase the equipment from Audio Visual Innovations for
$16,302.33. In addition, they approved funds to replace the
council chambers’ current sound system for $34,922.06.
“If both are done at the same time, we will
realize some savings in the labor costs,” stated a town memo.
The amount originally budgeted for the entire
project was $43,000; therefore, approval required an
appropriation from town reserves for the difference, $26,724.39.
At the June 12 meeting, the Bay Harbor Islands
Town Council agreed to a new licensing contract with Atlantic
Broadband, the municipality’s current cable television service
provider. The company agreed to provide a local access cable
channel for the town and $15,000 toward broadcasting facilities.
Atlantic Broadband also agreed to give $2,000 a year toward the
town’s annual picnic for the 10-year life of the contract,
representing a $20,000 allocation over the next decade. “I was a
big advocate of getting as much money as possible [from Atlantic
Broadband],” said Councilman Isaac Salver, noting that the
$15,000 “is nowhere near enough.”
During the citizens’ comments period, resident
Josh Fuller said he thought the town was spending far too much
on this project and that a person using a simple video camera
could record the meetings at a fraction of the cost.
Mayor
Peter G. Lynch
replied that a hand-held video camera still wouldn’t address the
requirements of going on a television channel and the necessity
of meeting FCC standards.
Marante said the chambers’ new sound system would
include more speakers, wireless microphones and other equipment,
such as an equalizer, required for audio broadcast quality.
The current speaker system had parts from 1974, although it
had some upgrading in 1992, she said. Lynch described the
current sound system as “horrible.” Councilman Alberto Ruder
said they had had many complaints from people attending meetings
who were unable to hear.
Earlier, Salver brought up the issue of creating
formal guidelines and procedures for who can use the channel and
for what purposes. He said he would bring additional information
to next month’s council meeting after town staff researches the
TV programming of other local communities. Bruder agreed, saying
they did not have to “reinvent the wheel.”
The mayor also agreed on the need for rules.
‘”Just because I’m the mayor, I can’t get on the channel and
sing rock songs,” Lynch quipped.
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