Meetings to air on Ch. 17

There will be no break in television coverage of weekly Board of Selectmen's meetings even though Plum TV yanked the cord on its long-standing commitment as of last Wednesday's session. Without a lot of time to smooth out details, Ch. 17's Geno Geng has agreed to take over the taping starting tonight, though he will not, at least initially, be able to broadcast the 6 p.m. meetings on a one-hour delay starting at 7 p.m.

According to Plum TV's general manager Kate Brosnan, Ch. 22 has been taping the selectmen's meetings for seven years at no cost to the town. The station also tapes school committee and airport commission meetings, but is paid for that work.

"With the Board of Selectmen it is so much manpower and so many hours of programming, and with the decision on the PEG channel (to add a surcharge to Comcast bills to fund public access TV) it made sense [to stop]," said Brosnan. "It's a big commitment. We have two people working on every selectmen's meeting. The bottom line is, Plum TV is a business. You have to be fiscally responsible.

"It was something we believed in as a service to the community, but it's very hard to plan. It could be one hour or four hours [per meeting]."

Geno Geng, known for taking his camera on roving jaunts around the island and the country, told town manager Libby Gibson that he will begin taping the board's meetings tonight.

"It will be the same thing, picking up where they left off," said Geng, who will tape the sessions as a public service. I