Meredith & Belmont commit funds to LRPA-TV

LACONIA — Lakes Region Public Access television received a badly needed infusion of funding last night as selectmen in both Meredith and Belmont approved funds which will enable the station to continue to provide programs through the end of the year.

The station broadcasts on several channels on the MetroCast Cablevision platform.

Meredith approved the entire amount requested by LRPA-TV, $17,991.75, while Belmont approved half of the $15,000 request, $7,500. The Belmont board made the remaining funding contingent on the LRPA-TV board of directors approving an updated business model at its next meeting.

The action follows the approval last week by the Laconia City Council of $20,000 in funds for the station, which late last month had said it was out of money and would have to cease operations as of the first of November.

The station still has a request for $18,000 pending in Gilford, where it was tabled last week by selectmen.

In Meredith, selectmen approved the full request after hearing support expressed by Phil Polhemus, who has worked on producing over 600 shows in the last 12 years for Public Access TV, and Steve Merrill, who said it was important that shows as the WLNH Children's Auction, which will take place next month, continue to be provided.

Town Manager Phil Warren endorsed the request based on actions taken at a meeting Saturday of the LRPA board attended by Trish Laurent, the town's Human Resources director and representative on the board, at which he said the board decided to ''aggressively address'' problems with its business model.

At that Saturday meeting board members both Jean Beaudin, Belmont town administrator, and Bob Hamel, Laconia's Ward 4 city councilman, pressed for changes in the board's business model as well as its operations.

The board had adopted a new business model earlier this while negotiations were still underway between a consortium which represented communities which are served by MetroCast and the cable service provider on a new contract, which ended the $30,000 yearly funding that MetroCast had been providing to LRPA-TV. That model called for much lower contributions from communities served by Metrocast while seeking to raise the balance of the $129,000 budget through sponsorships and fees for service.

When no communities signed up for the new contracts sent out by LRPA-TV, the board held an emergency meeting in mid-October at which it voted to send out bills to member communities based on last year's contribution levels.

Saturday, on Hamel's recommendation, the board decided to drop the proposed business plan, which was never fully implemented, and proceed with a hybrid plan which would seek to obtain at least 75 percent public funding for the station in the immediate future.

''I don't see the formula which has been discussed as working. It's too great an amount to raise,'' said Hamel.

Beaudin said that it was important that other communities served by LRPA-TV which have stopped paying to start picking up their share. ''We've got to get them back in the fold. They're getting all the public access programs for nothing and only six towns are paying for it.''

The LRPA board decided to send letters to those seven communities which have stopped funding and she said that she and Meredith town manger Phil Warren would be agreeable to visiting with selectmen and city council members in those communities to point out the importance of public access to their communities and why they should be involved in funding is operations.

Beaudin said that much of the discussion leading up to the new contract had centered on government meetings while the public access programs had been neglected and that it was important moving forward that public access be emphasized.

Hamel said that it was also important going forward that LRPA get recognition for the services it provides, like televising the Children's Auction at a cost of as much as $1,000 a day. ''We see MetroCast on the screen all the time but they don't lift a finger. They are required to put it out there. LRPA needs more recognition that week. They should have banner there which lets the public know that.''

He also says that LRPA was shorted by MetroCast in the new contract, which dropped all references ti LRPA-TV. ''The consortium left us out and made us go on our own for governmental programming.''

Linda Frawley of Belmont, who described herself as a strong supporter of public access, volunteered to work with LRPA to develop a media plan and also craft press releases. She said that she was too busy as a grant writer to work on grant applications for the station but did provide a list of foundations where grants might be obtained.