BY JENN McDOWELL
Even though residents voted it down for the past two years, Hooksett’s Peter Farwell says there may still be a way to start up a public access television station in town that would not cost taxpayers any extra money.
Farwell said there is considerable interest in Hooksett to set up a cable access station to televise town board and committee meetings, community and church events, and pretty much anything else residents want to broadcast – within reason, of course.
At a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 26, Town Councilor Paul Loiselle joked with Town Administrator David Jodoin about airing “blue movies.”
Jodoin and selectmen chuckled at the comment, but took Farwell’s idea seriously and appointed him as chairman of a committee to research and compile information for a formal proposal to present to the council at a future meeting.
Farwell asked for the council’s backing on the project, an endeavor that failed with voters when it appeared on the town warrant two years in a row.
“I would like to see it in the town budget,” Farwell said, adding that the funding for the station could come from the public access franchise fees, a percentage of each customer’s bill that currently goes into the town’s general fund.
Farwell said he thinks the warrant article failed because voters did not know enough about it.
He said town officials have been “negligent in getting this information out” about warrant articles, a problem that televising town board and committee meetings would aim to rectify.
Farwell said he’s looked at other cable access stations in Manchester and Raymond.
“We have been around, and most of the towns that have done it are happy with the results,” he said. “You can envision everyone using this.”
He added that the station could be staffed by volunteers, possibly student interns, keeping yearly maintenance costs for the station around $15,000 per year.
The council voted 7-2, with councilors Jason Hyde and George Longfellow dissenting, on a motion naming Farwell the head of an exploratory committee to research public access stations in other towns and report findings to council.
Hyde, a Comcast employee, said newspaper and network news ratings are going down as people today rely increasingly on the Internet for information. He said the town would be better served if the town Web site was improved.
Farwell said other stations he’s visited have been able to adapt their programming to different media.
“We could simulcast in several modes. It’s not exclusionary to Comcast,” Farwell said, adding that the station’s programming could be streamed onto the town’s Web site.
Chairman Paul Loiselle said the station could offer educational possibilities in broadcasting, particularly for students at Southern New Hampshire University.
“We’ve had a number of residents that have said they want to know what’s going on. This is an opportunity, as far as I’m concerned,” Loiselle said.
Jodoin said it is too early to make a determination as to whether the proposal will appear on the town warrant or be included in budget talks.
“Those discussions will take place during budget time,” he said, after Farwell’s committee submits a formal proposal.
He recommended Farwell speak with a Comcast representative to make sure the public franchise funds can be used for the station. “There might be stipulations in the contract,” he said.