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Date: 5/9/2023
GRANBY — In a turn of events, Granby Community Access & Media will stay put, bringing local meetings and youth sports to residents’ TVs and online as enough volunteers have stepped up to run operations.
According to GCAM President Mark Bail, newfound interest was identified after a member meeting in April where about 15 members showed up and discussed the issue facing the non-profit. Bail noted it quickly became a consensus amongst the members that keeping GCAM in its same role as a nonprofit was the right move.
Bail told Reminder Publishing he was “relieved and refreshed” to have found people with interest in stepping up to keep operations going. Departures of staff revealed inadequacies of the nonprofit model overseeing the station and with board members dwindling down and a part-time treasurer, it was reaching a point where GCAM needed the proper manpower to run things smoothly.
Attending the members meeting was GCAM founder Terry Lajoie and long-time former President of GCAM Larry Pietrus which Bail said helped bring a level of urgency to resolving the issue. Shortly after the meeting discussion, a new and full five-person board as well as new treasurer was set to lead GCAM forward.
“I was able to fill a board. I was down to one person basically, and now I am up to a full complement,” Bail said. “We have yet to hold our first meeting, but I’ve actually got a full complement of people who have not served on the board.”
Up to this point the only other feasible option to keep running GCAM was looking to the town for support in taking over operations. Granby is the only area town to not have the cable station as a town department Bail pointed out and was a key reason this was an option explored to maintain GCAM.
Bail noted previously that GCAM receives $80,000-90,000 in franchise fees every year that cover costs, and thanks to previous GCAM boards, there were sizable investments on behalf of GCAM. He also added that even with the gradual decline of Comcast cable subscriptions, there was still enough income for the non-profit to keep the station running for years if someone just stepped up to run it.
Bail told Reminder Publishing in April he believed the town taking over was the best option for the future of GCAM as at that point there was very little interest from people trying to step up and fill the vacant roles. While it doesn’t matter much now with volunteers having stepped up, the town showed little interest in taking over the station.
“Ninety-nine percent of what GCAM does is for the town, mainly taping the meetings of town boards. The rest is covering high school sports,” Bail said in April. “It makes no sense that four or five unelected people on our executive board should decide whether Granby should have their meetings videotaped, but if the town doesn’t take GCAM, that could be what happens…it doesn’t seem very democratic to me to have five people making decisions for the cable coverage of our entire town.”
With the change of course and the future of GCAM being secured for the time being, Bail told Reminder Publishing he plans on stepping down from his role as president in September when the GCAM board will vote on a replacement. For Bail, finding a solution to the potential closure of a useful tool in GCAM that provides more access to local government and youth sports is a big win for the community at large.
“I was pretty down at some points and losing sleep over the whole thing. It wasn’t an endeavor that I was really emotionally attached to, but it was also a responsibility to the town that I didn’t feel I could let up on,” Bail said. “I’m really pleased that people stepped up and the fact is I just feel more hopeful that maybe things are going in the right direction not just for GCAM but volunteering in general.”