Chair Persons Report

22nd October, 2009

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
THE BELLINGER VALLEY COMMUNITY
COMMUNICATIONS CO-OPERATIVE LTD.

1: Board Meetings:

This past year, due to the inundation of the building during the 31st March floods, meetings have had to be more sporadic and in the past six months heavily devoted to the flood damage refurbishment under the guidance of Dorin Hart who volunteered to oversee the building's insurance claim as a Site Coordinator. At the outset the Board wishes to thank Dorin for a mighty achievement and her commitment, often starting at 6 a.m. and finishing late in the evening while builders were working on the damaged areas. She was meticulous in itemising work to be done and recruiting volunteers to help in many areas including the painting that was not included in the assessment. The station was closed for three weeks to give builders the opportunity to work unimpeded, but we were never off air because we were broadcasting every day from the Outside Broadcasting Van located in the main street at Carl Foster's garage. Thanks to the presenters who rostered their time there under difficult conditions and to Carl for having us on his premises.

Otherwise the Board meetings over the year have reflected consistent input by members willing to see the big picture for the station.

2: Main Achievements:

Tark presented to the Board a draft for what would be needed to have the Outside Broadcasting Van brought up to a good quality for broadcasting at the monthly Bellingen Markets, the monthly Growers Market and for all-day broadcasting at this year's Global Carnival. The Board allocated $2000 and he volunteered his time to make this a reality. It has been money well spent and the van is now reliable and very usable. As it turned out it was used for nearly three weeks during the refurbishment of the station when we needed it for live broadcasting after the flood. This was an opportunity to raise the profile of the station as we were seen each day in the main street. Thanks to Tark for his hard work on upgrading the van to its now very reliable state. The van is housed in a rented shed in William Street when not outside broadcasting.

As a result of the freakish heavy rains during the Febrruary, March and April storms, the Dorrigo transmitter was inundated and ceased to operate. Insurance assessment wrote off the transmitter and we have not been able to broadcast on 93.3 ever since. However the new trnsmitter has been ordered and is ready to be installed as at this date and it will now transmit 2 kw of power instead of the old 1 kw which will increase our outreach to more remote areas. The extra wattage comes within our licensing requirements.

Under Cherie Race's initiative we held another three street stalls this year, topping up our station's income. The Board thanks Cherie for her enormous contribution under great pressure this year due to health concerns. She overcame these and continues to be the mainstay of 2bbb and the station would not operate without her most generous and professional assistance not only as Secretary/Treasurer, but in overseeing the running of the station as a whole. Her work requires many hours at home of telephoning, negotiating and writing. The Board cannot thank her enough especially during the heavy demands of the insurance claims.

Gillie Adams who has been a Jazz presenter at 2bbb for 25 years since we first began broadcasting had her final show and she was presented with a 2bbb award at a public ceremony for her at the Golf Club in Bellingen. We presented her with an engraved trophy and life members of 2bbb.

Ongoing:

Upgrade of the website is a difficult area greatly supported by Ellie. She has set up a “Pay Mate” account for people to buy CDs etc. online from us.

Mudbrick CDs were distributed to 107 community stations Australia-wide. We still have stocks on hand to be sold locally and they are moving slowly.

A training course is currently running with 14 partipants under Dorin's tutelage.

We urgently need a computing support volunteer.

Overall:

This year has been a particular challenge for the station given the economic problems of the global downturn which has reached every small business to one degree or another. It has been difficult to maintain our levels of sponsorship for the station but Ellie has done a valiant job in spite of this. We have been able to pay all our bills, we have maintained our investment in Bananacoast Credit Union and we operate in the black.

Indeed some would say that the horror that we faced on the 31st March with water rising six inches into the building and volunteers rushing in to move furniture and electrical wiring to safeguard our studio equipment, was almost a blessing in disguise. The volunteers that day were Graham and Alice, Leo and Misty with Dorin in charge. The damage has required a new floor in the main reception area, kitchen and office (polished floor for the new kitchen), new carpet throughout the building, the whole interior of the building has been repainted and we had a complete overhaul of old files and cupboards, getting rid of years of unnecessary paperwork. Overall, the station has had a complete makeover this year, forced on us by the flooding and subsequent refurbishment. It has taken a great deal of organisation on Dorin's part, but the outcome is almost like a new radio station. For us it was perfect timing because we have used the opportunity to have the old wiring removed and new wiring installed. Extra special thanks to Richard Hughes from Bellingen TV Antennas who has been heavily involved in this area as a volunteer. The Board wishes to especially thank Bill Morrison for his help during the refurbishment, particularly in the CD library.

My personal thanks go to all the members of the Board for their intelligent contribution to the running of the station and for their professional and creative input to both meetings and the needs of the station. And I thank you all for your hard work and your friendship. It has been a privilege to be part of the 2bbb family.

HELEN PROUD, CHAIRPERSON 2008-2009