TCRS Solicits Funding From County (May 6th, 2010) |
| Posted by Geoff DeGannes (gdegannes) on May 11 2010 at 9:16 AM |
AMHERST – With just over a year to go before its licence expires Tantramar Community Radio is stepping up its effort to raise the money required to go on the air.
Society members appeared before Cumberland municipal council on Wednesday and are holding a membership meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Cornerstone Cultural Centre at 26 Crescent Ave. People attending the meeting are asked to use the parking lot entrance.
“The society is hoping to provide that important communication link that will provide more synergy between communities both large and small in such an expansive geographic area,” society co-chair Geoff deGannes told council. “We believe that having a strong community voice will further enrich the social, economic and cultural life of our rural area.”
He said the society has until June 2011 to be operational. He said start-up costs and the first year’s operations should cost about $200,000.
The society is hoping to secure funding from the federal and provincial governments as well as from the county’s municipal units including $30,000 from the county and $15,000 from Amherst.
It’s also hoping to get financial support from corporations and from a variety of fundraising activities.
Besides providing an eclectic mix of music, entertainment and news, deGannes said the community station will provide an outlet for creative expression and diversity in opinion. It will also provide an outlet for local performers and part of its focus will be Maritime music.
The business community, he said, is willing to support the initiative.
When the society’s first application was turned down by the CRTC nearly two years ago, it reimbursed the funding it was pledged by the province. When its application was finally accepted, that money was no longer available.
Society president Randy Smith said a lot of people are very interested in the community radio station. He said the station has the potential to be a training ground for potential broadcasters and producers while providing a valuable service to community groups.
“There’s a window of opportunity of about 13 months to get this started and going so we have to move quickly to meet that deadline,” Smith said, adding that people are continually asking for an update. “People are still behind it, but when we lost the first round it sort of stalled us.”
Warden Keith Hunter said the county is in the midst of its budget process and is not in a position right now to commit funding to the organization.
The Tantramar Community Radio Society was given the green light last June by the CRTC to set up an FM community radio station. The licence gave the society two years to get on the air at the 107.9 frequency.
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