PORT TOWNSEND – Sherry Jones and Ann Katzenbach envision a day when news, information and entertainment will be broadcast via Radio Port Townsend airwaves.
The two longtime Port Townsend residents are leading the charge to bring a community radio station to the Quimper Peninsula, one that would beam all the way to Marrowstone Island, Port Ludlow and Gardiner.
“Our guiding principles are quality and community,” said Jones, after the Port Townsend City Council endorsed the idea in a 4-0 vote Monday night.
That endorsement will allow them an antenna-transmitter lease at the city’s water reservoir site in the vicinity of Rainier and 20th streets.
If an FM license is granted, the group now has the City Council’s permission to negotiate with T Mobile for space on the existing cell tower next to the city’s water storage reservoir.
“I’m really impressed with the work they’ve done so far,” said Mayor Mark Welch, who voted to endorse the lease, along with Deputy Mayor Michelle Sandoval and City Council members Laurie Medlicott and George Randels.
Welch is a broadcasting teacher at Port Townsend High School who helped found a local community television station, PTTV.
Council members Frank Benskin, Catharine Robinson and Geoff Masci were absent from Monday night’s council meeting.
Jones and Katzenbach’s dream, shared with many others, is the easy part.
