Cable Committee member Jonathan Williams provides instruction to Nick Kouros, a student in the Cable Committee’s producer course, while fellow student Shara Drew looks on during a recent session of the program. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

The Cable Committee’s long search for a home came to an end when the Board of Selectmen voted on March 17 to designate space in the old public library for the use of the committee. In a unanimous vote, the selectmen designated the Hapgood Room, the Sears Room, and the former library director’s office as Cable Committee space, effective immediately.

The committee had been looking for space for a number of years, having nowhere to locate a permanent studio for training or video shoots. In a February presentation to the selectmen, Keith Turner, then a member of the Cable Committee, cited the lack of studio space as a hindrance to the development of a more robust cable program. Turner had advocated the need for space for at least two years, especially to support the ad hoc Bromfield School video training program, for which he was a mentor. Cable Committee member Jonathan Williams told the Press in February that the lack of permanent space was a significant roadblock to the committee in achieving its vision, which, he said, was “to bring all the meetings we can to the town and to train as many townspeople as possible to do their own programming.” He said that the committee had been looking for permanent space for the nine years he had been a member.

Cable Committee Chairwoman Pat Natoli, in an interview Tuesday, said she is “very excited” about the prospect of the committee having a permanent home. At present, she said, some of the equipment the group uses for video shoots is stored on the third floor of Hildreth House and must be hauled to each assignment. Editing equipment is stored at Bromfield, so committee members must work around the school schedule when planning editing sessions.

Natoli said that response to the producer course the committee has been running for three weeks out of the Hapgood Room has been very enthusiastic. Fourteen people are enrolled in the class, and they have come up with many programming ideas, which, with their newfound skills, they can help implement. One resident is hoping to produce a local cooking show, she said, and some juniors at Bromfield plan to work with Schools Superintendent Thomas Jefferson on a program about the schools.

With permanent space in which to work, said Natoli, the Cable Committee will be able to turn around programs in a more timely fashion and fulfill requests for DVD recordings of meetings faster. She said that things seem to be coming together for the Cable Committee now. “We’ve been moving at a great pace since November,” she said. The committee has developed a business plan, a draft of which has been presented to selectmen and must still be fine-tuned; it has plans to order equipment that will enable the committee to show eight or nine programs daily on the public cable access channel; it is working with the selectmen and Personnel Board on creating a position for a part-time coordinator; and it is working on getting a phone line and answering machine into its new space.

According to Selectman Tim Clark, liaison to the Cable Committee, the selectmen’s decision to allocate the space on the bottom floor of the old library means that portions of the upper floor of the library will now be used as public meeting space. He said the former children’s room will be used as a large meeting room, replacing the Hapgood Room as a public meeting space, and that three smaller meeting rooms will be located in the “center room,” the “front room,” and the “fireplace room.” Town executive assistant Julie Doucet, who schedules rooms for public meetings, said she would be scheduling meetings in the newly available space at the old library immediately.