April 17, 2008

By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff

BENNINGTON — Town Manager Stuart Hurd told the Select Board on Monday he was "encouraged" by recent negotiations between a citizens group to which Hurd belongs and Southern Vermont College over the fate of WBTN 1370-AM.

In February, college officials announced they could no longer afford to underwrite losses which they estimated at around $450,000 since the station was donated to the college by Robert Howe, a college trustee, in 2001.

Hurd said at Monday's Select Board meeting that he was limited in what he could say because of the ongoing negotiation process but he said he was encouraged by conversations with the college to date.

"I'm confident that within the next 30 days, I'll have something positive to report," he told board members.

Hurd said the citizens group was working toward the creation of a new private nonprofit that could own or run the radio station.

The intent is to find funding from within the community to support the continued existence and broadcasting of Bennington's only remaining radio station. One idea that had been discussed, according to Hurd, was borrowing the money to buy WBTN using the station itself as collateral.

Southern Vermont College spokesman David Scribner said after several meetings between the college and the citizens group, the future of WBTN "looks promising."

"The ideal that everyone, including us, would love to see is that radio station continues to operate, that WBTN continues to operate locally as a community radio station, a community resource, and that it maintains its independence," he said on Tuesday.

Scribner said he was a proponent of local media and would be sorry to see WBTN purchased and operated by one of the large conglomerates that operate through much of the country.

While Scribner said negotiations over the radio station should not be conducted through the press, he said college officials remained eager to see WBTN survive in some fashion in Bennington and as a learning tool for Southern Vermont College students.

"It's wonderful to see so many people coming forward and suggesting so many creative solutions for preserving WBTN and how it can continue to serve the community," he said.

The citizens group includes state Rep. Mary Morrissey; Joann Erenhouse, executive director of the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce; John Shanahan, executive director of the Better Bennington Corp.; Lisa Byer, executive director of local cable channel Catamount Access Television or CAT-TV; and Howe.

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