PORT ANGELES — PAPA TV is about to make its debut.
Also known as Peninsula Area Public Access TV, the nonprofit corporation begins broadcasting June 1, Ralph Smith, past PAPA founding president and former board member, told City Council members Tuesday.
Shows will include newsmaker-interview programs hosted by Port Angeles Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd and Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach, Smith said Friday.
Programs will be broadcast from what was the city’s first firehouse at 215 S. Lincoln St. after the City Council on Tuesday awarded PAPA a two-year lease for the second floor on a 5-1 vote.
“State-of-the-art equipment is ready to go,” Smith told council members.
PAPA, which already has made repairs, will continue upgrading and maintaining the 3,135-square-foot area in lieu of rent.
PAPA is ready to make the facility “the mecca of community television,” Smith said.
PAPA volunteers have been using the Port Angeles School District’s media center.
“If it wasn’t for those folks, PAPA would not be ready to go live here in five weeks,” Smith said.
Channel 21
PAPA will broadcast over Wave Broadband’s public access, education and government Channel 21.
Smith said PAPA will receive $60,000 from Wave Broadband public access fees in 2016 and 2017 for equipment, after which the nonprofit will generate revenue from donations, business and personal sponsorships, and business and personal memberships.
The shows will not be available to satellite TV customers but will be accessible via YouTube.
Smith said Friday shows will be produced by Northwest Peninsula Media, a division of Alpine Productions Inc., which he owns.
PAPA board members are Jody Potter, Wendy Wilson, Patrick McInnis, Camrin Meyer, Sharon Buck, Edna Willadsen, Dale Wilson, Richard Wade, Craig Fulton and Michael Gentry.
Old firehouse
Built in 1931, the firehouse has played various roles: fire station, city jail, bakery, restaurant and architecture office.
Port Angeles Realty determined in March that, given its dilapidated condition, the building has a fair-market value of zero.
It would cost more than $1 million to upgrade it for sale, according to a 2011 condition assessment report.
Smith told council members that having the top floor occupied would make the building’s bottom floor more attractive to a second tenant for the building.
Mayor Patrick Downie agreed.
“When you have a building that’s occupied and watched over by a committed and interested lessee, that makes the building more marketable,” Downie said.
City officials said the building had been shown to 30 potential buyers and lessees since 2007, when the city determined it was surplus property.
“After most parties did their due diligence, they determined it wasn’t something they wanted to pursue,” Nathan West, city community and economic development director, said Thursday.
Kidd, Downie and council members Dan Gase, Brad Collins and Michael Merideth voted for the lease Tuesday, while Sissi Bruch recused herself.
Bruch, a senior planner withe the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, said later that the tribe has expressed an interest in the fire hall building.
Councilman opposed
But Councilman Lee Whetham was opposed, saying the city engaged in too limited a process to find a tenant.
He said the city real estate committee that recommended the agreement’s approval should have more open meetings and that more community groups should have been given a chance to occupy the building.
“My point is making this available to community groups to have an open chance to discuss this with council,” he said.
Whetham said his objections were similar to those he raised in the council’s decision to transfer the lease for the city-owned Carnegie Library building, which he also opposed.
In that April 5 vote, council members agreed to transfer the $1-per-year agreement from the Clallam County Historical Society to the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, guaranteeing the continuing operation of the historical society museum housed in the building’s second floor.
PAPA was awarded the city’s franchise agreement in November for public access channels.
Public Works and Utilities Director Craig Fulton said the lease provides the city with the opportunity to reinforce its commitment to make PAPA “the public access provider of choice,” noting that PAPA is getting pass-through money from Wave.
The Carnegie Library building is located in the same National Register-listed Port Angeles Civic Historic District as the fire hall and the county courthouse.
Kidd, who championed saving the fire hall in 2011, lauded the pact Tuesday.
“We can’t tear her down because she’s irreplaceable,” Kidd said.
“Unfortunately, like many other elderly ladies, she’s high-maintenance, but that’s OK.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.