Pittsfield School Committee So Far Supportive Of PCTV's Plan For WTBR

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
06:25PM / Tuesday, March 06, 2018Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — PCTV, WTBR, is a match made in heaven, according to School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Yon.

"We've been trying to get out of the radio business for quite some time," Yon said. "The collaboration seems to be the proverbial match made in heaven."

Pittsfield Community Television has submitted a plan to take over management of the Taconic High School radio station. The local public access television station is looking to transform the station into a community radio station, providing education opportunities for students, and expand the ability to get local voices seen and heard.

"We're very excited as an organization, PCTV, to have an opportunity to partner with the Pittsfield public schools in preserving this very valued asset in WTBR," PCTV Executive Director Shawn Serre said.

The PCTV Board of Directors submitted a business plan to the school department a few weeks earlier in which it outlined its goals to bring hyper-local content across both the television platform and the radio. It hopes to vastly expand the programming schedule and start to simulcast such things as civic meetings on both television and radio.

"I think we can reserve some day parts on the channel and activities at both schools," Serre told the School Committee on Wednesday about his ideas to still ensure there is a chance for students to learn radio if they want.

The radio station is stationed at Taconic High School but educationally, there hasn't really been much of a program teaching it. The plans for the new school, which is expected to open this fall, does not include the radio station and officials have been seeking partners to take it over.

"It has never really worked the way it was originally conceived to function," said School Committee member William Cameron. "There is a resource here that is being underutilized."

The station was formed in 1973 under the direction of former adviser at Taconic Bob Cooper and hit the airwaves in 1974. Over time, student interest faded and equipment broke down. It was rejuvenated in the 2000s under active and knowledgeable advisers, but in more recent years, participation again waned.

Recently, school officials considered silencing the station altogether. But that didn't sit well with the community. Supporters of the station pushed back on that proposal and ever since then, Superintendent Jason McCandless has been looking to pass on the station to another community partner.

"I do feel like we are uniquely positioned to help make this radio station continue and to prosper," Serre said. "I feel like we can strengthen the offerings."

Serre sees radio as having "a low barrier of entry" for people who would want to get involved. He feels PCTV will be able to not only find the volunteers but train them as well. The organization plans to create "comprehensive rules and procedures" to protect the station's license and make sure all who are on the show follow the regulations.

Not only that, PCTV is willing to put up the money to transform a room at its current office into a new studio and upgrade equipment. The tower will also have to be relocated, though exactly where has yet to be determined. The school will still retain the license for the station but PCTV would be in charge of the management.

Cameron said the radio station has always been a controversial topic. There were always questions about who was responsible for it, whether or not the station was actually fulfilling its mission, and the role community members other than students should play in the programming — questions that led him to ask whether or not a PCTV management is compliant with the FCC license.

McCandless said the license requires a certain amount of community programming and "Good Morning, Pittsfield," a non-school production, is currently the only show credited toward hitting those hours. The superintendent doesn't think that show provides enough hours to be in compliance with the license, so PCTV's proposal to increase community programming brings the station even more in line than it is now.

After being assured with that, and that students would not have to pay to become PCTV members to use the use, he joined in a favorable vote for the school to continue negotiations on the proposal. He said whoever worked out the details of the proposal "deserves a great deal of credit."

PCTV Business Plan For WTBR by iBerkshires.com on Scribd

Tags: PCTV, radio, WTBR,

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Lanesborough Looks to the Future of Zoning Bylaws

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:33AM / Monday, July 27, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Planning Board is reviewing the town's zoning bylaws with an eye to amending zones to align with planning documents and projects.

Members started at last week's meeting to at priority zoning projects that align with the Open Space and Recreation Plan and the Master Plan that was adopted last year. Earlier in the meeting, the board accepted the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's draft of the OSRP, which the Select Board accepted late last month.

Town planner Andrew Groff informed the board of upcoming projects that will need to be looked at for zoning purposes to try and stay ahead of the bylaws that aligned in both the OSRP and Master Plan.

"Principally, would be going back and thinking about this idea of a mixed-use zoning district for the northern part of town that's responsive to the growth of outdoor recreation as it is really an industry. So you've got Shaker Ridge, you've got the folks at Donnybrook that proposes a glamping resort, Ramble Wild, and Brodie Mountain just over the town line in New Ashford with some new ownership and expanded interest in some development there, so that's one item that's called for in both."

Groff also explained they need to look into agriculture zones to help local farmers

"Seeing if we can't do something to better support our farms because we have a couple great little farm clusters in Lanesborough. You know, zoning for agriculture is pretty expansive in Massachusetts. The exemption for agriculture is pretty wise, but we want to take a closer look and talk to some of our farmers and figure out there's some tweaks we can do that would make their lives easier."

He also brought up how they can help fix the zoning bylaws around the lake that are nonconforming and want to look into grant funding to help.

"Work that's going to be done to further protect Pontoosuc Lake, and we have a lot in our master plan regarding the zoning issues on Pontoosuc from the issue that you had mentioned to me, bringing back the citizens who were concerned about building heights down there, but you know, more fundamentally identified in the master plan is the problems with how everything is basically nonconforming. The zoning doesn't conform to what the actual built environment is. That's something we probably want to look into talking with folks in the community planning office," he said.

Groff mentioned there is a ballot question that, if it passes, would mean changing zoning regarding public water and sewer, and affect properties near the lake.

"There is going to be on the ballot in November a question that will essentially require any community in Massachusetts that has built an environment that's on public water/sewer, you're going to have to reduce your lot sizes to 5,000 square feet. So I feel like if that passes, that has massive implications for that part of town. So, just another one to put out there, but maybe we want to wait to really tackle that with some grant funding once we know what the Legislature's done."

Chair Leanne Yinger said she lives in that area and it already seems very congested, meaning that the passage of the ballot question could have big implications.

She also mentioned another implication for the health of the lake she would like to see happen.

"I would like to see us ban pesticides and people treating their lawns," she said. "Part of the problem of the health of the lake is that when I say that out loud, and I'm saying it out loud to anybody who will listen to me, it is not a popular thing to say. But it is killing the lake."

Yinger said she would like to clarify who governs the sewer system around Pontoosuc Lake, noting the new owner of a friend's house needed to purchase access to the sewer from a private party. Groff said he couldn't remember if it is water district or town, but that there is something "funky" about the governance over there.

"I need to understand what that looks like, because the way it came down was interesting. The line comes in from Pittsfield, but there are people claiming that they have rights to it because they bought into it originally. I just want to understand what that's like and who's saying you're in charge with it, because it seems to me that that's a town-managed situation," Yinger said.

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