BRATTLEBORO — With less than two months before the Federal Communications Commission's deadline for returning to the air, WVEW-FM 107.7, Brattleboro Community Radio, is busy trying to tie up all the loose ends.
The Brooks House fire last April destroyed most of the 100-watt station's equipment and forced the station off the air. It has been streaming a limited program schedule over its website while it has worked to rebuild its studios in its new quarters in the Hooker-Dunham Building.
However, internal disputes over the governance of the station delayed a planned return to broadcasting last fall.
According to former board member Jim Maxwell, many of the board members, including himself, resigned and mediation was necessary to work out a new structure for the station.
Maxwell, a Brattleboro attorney, said that WVEW has switched from being a non-membership nonprofit to being a membership-run nonprofit.
The station, which began broadcasting in 2006, has been operating under the umbrella of the nonprofit Vermont Earth Works.
“The DJs were afraid that their role in the station would be diminished and they would not have enough of a voice,” said Maxwell. “The passions involved led to things getting messy, but I think when all is said and done, things are going to be fine. The rest of what needs to be done is just herding cats.”
The station is now searching for new board members and taking applications from new and returning hosts for air time. The station says that hosts who were on the air before the fire will have preference.
This Saturday, Feb. 25, WVEW will have a sign-up/information table at the Winter Farmers' Market at the River Garden. According to station member Larry Bloch, anyone interested in hosting a show can leave contact information.
There is no specific time frame for returning WVEW to the air, but one thing is certain.
It has to resume broadcasting by April 18, or the station will have to turn in its license to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
According to FCC rules, a station that is forced off the air due to unforeseen circumstances, such as fire or other disaster, has one year to resume broadcasting.
The to-do list for WVEW is long. The station has all the studio equipment it needs to broadcast, and Bloch said it is in the process of being installed on the seventh floor of the Hooker-Dunham Building on Main Street.
The station's transmitter and antenna, previously on the roof of the Brooks House, will soon be installed at the Austine School for the Deaf.
Initial tests went well.
There are concerns, however, that the new studio space is not handicapped accessible. With no elevator in the Hooker-Dunham, visitors entering the historic building from Main Street have to scale two long and steep flights of stairs to get to the seventh floor.
At its Jan. 31 meeting, the station board voted to delay setting up a accessible production room until the station has more money to do so.
There still is a considerable amount of fundraising to do, as well as obtaining additional underwriter support, to help pay for the last steps toward getting back on the air.
Bloch said the station hopes to celebrate during May Gallery Walk with an open house and tours of the new studio.