Video and minutes: NCPR Annual Public Meeting, July 27, 2017
The annual public meeting of North Country Public Radio’s Executive Council, which acts as the station’s community advisory board, was held Thursday, July 27 from 1:30-3:00 pm in the Sykes Common Room at St. Lawrence University on Park St. in Canton, NY.
The public was invited to attend. The meeting was webcast live on the home page at ncpr.org.
There was a question and comment period for the public.
Archive video
2017 Annual Meeting Minutes and public comments, July 27, 2017
Council Attendance: Rod Giltz, Linda Cohen, Mark Dzwonczyk, John Ernst, Hannah Hanford, Dale Kramer, Stephen Meier, John Rosenthal, Mark Scarlett
Staff Attendance: Ellen Rocco, Martha Foley, Bill Haenel, Joel Hurd, Lizette Haenel, David Sommerstein, Lauren Rosenthal, Amy Feiereisel, Shelly Pike, Jon Sklaroff
Excused: Cali Brooks, Steve Hopkins, Sarah Johnson, Nancy Keet, Alan McLeod, Dick Munro, Cathy Pircsuk, Susanna Piller, Tom Pynchon, Christopher Robinson, Marion Roach Smith.
Call To Order: 1:32 pm
Recorded By: Danielle LaCourse
Adjournment: 2:46 pm
Introductions:
- Executive Council Chair, Rod Giltz, called the meeting to order.
- Roll call taken.
Item 1: Meeting Minutes Approved
- May 2017 minutes approved.
Item 2: Report on SLU
- Determination of new officers. Vote taken. Mark Dzwonczyk makes comments as new Executive Council Chair. Recognition of Rod Giltz and his time as former Executive Council Chair.
- Rod goes over members of the board and their remaining terms; notes the need for new council members next year.
- Ellen gives update on departure of Melissa Farmer Richards; notes that the station will now report to the Advance VP Tom Pynchon. Rod mentions the less than optimal space that NCPR currently occupies, and the possibility of moving. A committee to explore new space options is created: Mark D., Rod G., Linda C. and Marion S.
Item 3: Station Report from Ellen Rocco
- Ellen notes that copies of all the reports discussed are available to the public.
- Recognition of NCPR’s Volunteer of the Year, Paul Hetzler.
- Personnel update: schedule in place for transition of station leadership over the next two years. Jackie will retire in June 2018, Martha and Ellen will retire in June 2019.
Item 4: Fundraising Report from Lizette Haenel
- Station broke a million dollars this year, explained by the current political divide and the generosity and appreciation for public media.
- Ellen notes the importance of sustaining donors.
Item 5: Underwriting Report from Jon Sklaroff
- Underwriting Director Jon Sklaroff notes the previous fiscal year goal of $555,000; didn’t quite make that goal due to premature projections and an unfortunate unsuccessful experiment with outside sales reps. However, Jon did break his own personal, in-house goal of $525,000.
- Second best year in underwriting history at the station.
- Despite monetary decrease in underwriting, the station had more underwriters on the books this fiscal year compared to last fiscal year.
- Jon is working with Dale Hobson and Bill Haenel to update the underwriting sales kit for new underwriters, including an underwriting-exclusive website.
Item 6: North Country at Work Report from Ellen Rocco and Amy Feiereisel
- NEH has awarded the NCAW project about $75,000 for the next stage of development of the digital platform.
- Amy explains the concept behind North Country at Work, and notes that they have many grant applications out and in the works.
Item 7: News Report from Martha Foley
- Martha notes news team staff changes and the success of this past years’ work, especially coverage of the trial of Nick Hillary.
- Martha mentions how it’s difficult for the station to measure broadcast reach and get solid numbers to publish. Occasionally, the station is given an opportunity to get a report that states what our broadcast reach is.
- News team will be bringing in a national investigative reporting training team.
- The station is working with several different stations around the nation to form a partnership that will investigate military and veterans’ issues; we have contracted with Sarah Harris, who will be working with those stations, as well as NCPR, to report on stories in Fort Drum.
- Goals are to stay ahead of the news; there’s a podcast in the works for the Story of the Day, which is being spearheaded by David Sommerstein.
- Moving forward with future open positions on the news team, those searches will be national searches.
Item 8: Digital Report from Bill Haenel
- Digital audience grew – 4% more sessions, grew the traffic from the returning audience, recovered from the decrease in traffic last year, etc. – all of which was achieved with a smaller staff.
- One of the standouts in digital presence was the Plattsburgh, NY audience, which grew by 30% in the last year.
- Mobile and social audiences have grown as well.
- We now have the ability to measure not only that someone has clicked on a story online or on their mobile device, but whether or not they’ve taken the time to read that story.
- North Country at Work stories have consistently received over a thousand views on the website.
Item 9: Summary of Jackie and Bob Sauters’ reports by Ellen Rocco
Item 10: 50th Anniversary
- Ellen notes that we’re heavy into planning for the station’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
- Possible events: dinner party hosted by the president of SLU; music/vendor/craft festival at Asgaard farms. Open to public input in regards to ideas for events.
Item 11: Public Comments
- Janice Piece: notes concerns over incoming wind turbines in Parishville and Hopkinton. She requested that NCPR increase coverage and do a few investigative stories on the subject. Janice also offered resources and contacts should NCPR decide to pursue more investigative stories on the subject.
- Ellen notes that public comments from Rich Paolillo were passed out ahead of the meeting. In those comments, Rich raises issues related to the structure and functioning of the Community Advisory Board, as well as programming, especially in regards to the station not airing Democracy Now! When prompted by Ellen, the council declined to comment. *See Mr. Paolillo’s comments at bottom.
Item 12: Meeting Adjourned
Next Executive Council Meeting via conference call: Thursday, October 5, 1:30 pm.
*Public comment by Rich Paolillo on July 26, 2017 at 9:23PM:
“Sorry my first version had a few typos, I’m new to tablets.
July 26, 2017. To be entered into the record and read in its entirety to the CAB Community Advisory Board.
Greetings Mr. Chairman,
I have read all the CAB (Community Advisory Board, aka executive council) minutes and public posts, have participated in meetings, have read all 16 pages of the CPB guidelines and have been on the phone several times with the CPB Inspector General’s office.
My participation had a minor effect in two areas. For the first time in the station’s history a CAB chair actually ran his own meeting instead of the station manager. Second, the station has partly started to use the term CAB (Community Advisory Board), the industry’s vernacular for community representation required by federal law. This station’s CAB does not to act like, nor preformed the duties of a CAB. A board is not a board unless it acts like a board!
My letter to the CAB for the February 2, 2017 meeting was not addressed at all. My name was in the minutes.
Will the SLU Trustees–the license holders–resolve the following issues for the good of the station?
The CAB does not rotate in new members as required by the NCPR station bylaws and the spirit of the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) rules of CAB guidelines. Will you remedy this? The bylaws state that there is a three-year term limit while most members have been on for seven years
The Executive Council acts as a think tank, fundraiser, and extension of the license holders, BUT it is not a CAB in any sense. Can the license holders enforce the CPB rules and install a real CAB that acts like a CAB? Such a board would take public input seriously, discuss and listen to recommended alternative news sources such as Democracy Now!, and, after due diligence, make recommendations to the station management. It’s all in the minutes of the meetings. This has NOT been done and is why I make my case here today. Not one instance of advisement, the essential function of a station CAB.
Will the trustees replace the current inactive (negligent in their basic duties) CAB, and install a CAB that will listen to Democracy Now! news as a needed alternative to the mainstream NPR based news? Democracy Now! is on 1,400 public TV, radio and 40 + NPR radio stations. Will NCPR be the last station to air this vital alternative to NPR based news? I personally know of several dozen people who no longer support or listen to NCPR and instead listen online to any radio station in the world to the exclusion of NCPR.
Ms Rocco has her bias against Democracy Now! Ms Rocco fails to see the bias, advocacy and censorship by omission built into NPR based journalism. In a democracy, there are various versions of the truth competing for vindication. NPR and PBS TV have joined forces, share reporters, and almost word for word tell the same EXACT stories every day. We need Democracy Now! as a source of award winning journalism for the turbulent times ahead.
My news habits (and other ex listeners) starts with WPDM (hyper local news for Potsdam Canton) where I hear about he impact of the Hopkinton wind farm and St Lawrence County Legislature actions and laws concerning wind/ethics etc. Then I listen to Democracy Now! In the evening PBS TV. I’ve had all the news with no over lap. Remember NPR and PBS News Hour are almost word for word, story for story, and share the same reporters! In my listening for news, NPR only comes into play occasionally, if at all. Canadian news is also very refreshing.
The license holders must act. The CAB of NCPR, your station, is broken and acts outside the laws established by the CPB and the stations own bylaws. As long as this station accepts CPB money, it must follow the law; or refuse CPB funding and become a wholly private entity.”
Sincerely,
Rich Paolillo
Upcoming 2017 Executive Council meeting dates:
- Quarterly Meeting: Thursday, October 5, 2017, 1:30-3:00 pm
The October meeting will be by phone conference and streamed online.
Members of the NCPR Executive Council in 2017:
- Rod Giltz, Plattsburgh, NY (chair)
- Cali Brooks, Lake Placid, NY
- Linda Cohen, Old Forge, NY
- Mark Dzwonczyk, Nicholville, NY
- John Ernst, North Hudson, NY
- Hannah Hanford, Saranac Lake, NY
- Steve Hopkins, Keene Valley, NY
- Sarah Johnson, Canton, NY
- Nancy Keet, Saranac Lake, NY
- Dale Kramer, Massena, NY
- Alan McLeod, Kingston, ON
- Stephen Meier, Queensbury, NY
- Dick Munro, Clayton, NY
- Cathy Pircsuk, Watertown, NY
- Susanna Piller, Plattsburgh
- Christopher Robinson, Potsdam, NY
- John Rosenthal, Lake Placid, NY
- Mark Scarlett, Hammond, NY
- Marion Roach Smith, Troy, NY
- Melissa Farmer Richards, Canton, NY
The governing board of North Country Public Radio is the Board of Trustees of St. Lawrence University.
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I want to start off by saying I support green energy and the move towards ending our dependence on fossil fuels as well as nuclear.
Clearly we need clean energy, as quickly as possible.
However, something needs to change in how we think about these goals and the routes we take to achieve them.
In rural areas around the country, industrial wind farms are cropping up, seemingly over night, invading the skyline of our most pristine/ beautiful locations . These turbines are now tending toward the heights of 5 to 600 feet from base to the blade tip.
Locally, In Hopkinton and Parishville we are being threatened with 40 industrial turbines, 500 feet tall potentially within 2,500 feet.
There is a lack of ethics in how the companies operate and approach the communities. In 2009 the first lease was signed in Hopkinton, many of us did not find out about this project until about 2 years ago. There was no notification through our local government, the secrecy was impart achieved through agreements that the company made within the project zone.
Due to this lack of community awareness our town was not properly prepared as far as zoning including a wind law. Over the last couple of years our towns have been working to build up the wind laws to protect ourselves. However there has been great pushback by Avangrid/Iberdrola and leaseholders.
Due to the lack of transparency and scientific knowledge, our wind laws may still not protect the towns from what could happen if the turbines come in.
In their relatively short life spans, compared to say-hydro, the turbines damage things that aren’t replaceable, such as water quality. In Scotland at the Whitelee Wind Farm, Scottish Power ( a subsidiary of Iberdrola) knew of contamination in private water supply to homes. This contamination included E.Coli and other coliform which resulted in illness. Test results obtained by Dr. Rachel Connor showed high levels of tri-halo-methane (THM) which research has linked to cancers, stillbirths and miscarriages. Scottish Power Renewables admitted not notifying the appropriate authorities of the water contamination for 7 years, until this came to light following investigation by local residents. During the pile driving other chemicals from manufacturing contaminate water supplies.
This is just one aspect of the health issues relating to industrial turbine farms.
A more controversial issue is the noise output of industrial scale turbines, which produce not only audible noise but the more concerning inaudible low frequency and infrasound.
Over the last year and a half I have read anything I could about wind turbines and their relationship to sound. It is more complex than the industry would have you believe. The sound produced by turbines is defined as the amplitude modulation of broadband aerodynamic noise created by the blades at the blade passing frequency. This acoustic signal has both a high frequency broadband character and a low frequency amplitude modulation. This is in part why the sound character overshadows the existing noise profile of these rural areas.
Being that most noise standards are set using the dBA scale, (which deals mainly with human threshold of hearing) Sounds that are inaudible are not being measured or acknowledged.
Many scientists and experts including Dr. Nina Pierpont, the author of Wind Turbine Syndrome- a report on a natural experiment, has documented thousands of case reports of patients suffering from what has now been coined Wind Turbine Syndrome. This syndrome produces several symptoms related to the vestibular system’s organs- such as disturbed sleep, headaches, tinnitus, a sense of quivering or vibration, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, nausea, difficulty with concentration, memory loss, and irritability.
During my research I have come to a deeper understanding of the complexity of these health affects and the connection between Wind Turbine Syndrome and vibroaccoustic disease. I have been in contact with Dr Mariana Alves-Pereira in Portugal, she holds degrees in physics, biomedical engineering and a PhD in environmental science. She and her team have been researching vibroacoustic disease since 1980.
Quoting from, The clinical stages of vibroacoustic disease. by Castelo Branco :
This disease is an affect of exposure to low frequency noise and infrasound.
*Stage I, mild signs (behavioral and mood associated with repeated infections of the respiratory tract, example- bronchitis
* Stage II, moderate signs (depression and aggressiveness, peri-cardial thickening and other extra-cellular matrix changes, light to moderate hearing impairment, and discrete neuro-vascular disorders)
*Stage III, severe signs (myo-cardial infarction, stroke, malignancy, epilepsy, and suicide).
Now, In the Guidelines for Community Noise, the World Health Organization includes advice on noise levels in hospitals and suggests that, because patients are less able to cope with the increased stress levels generated by excess environmental noise, the sound level in hospitals should not exceed 35 dBA for areas where patients are treated or observed, with a corresponding max of 40 dBA [4]. The WHO guidelines for community noise recommend less than 30 A-weighted decibels (dB(A)) in bedrooms during the night for sleep quality and less than 35 dB(A) in classrooms to allow good teaching and learning conditions.
The background rural ambient noise is around 20-25 dBA. An increase of 3dBA is noticeable and an increase of 10dBA is perceived as a doubling in loudness.
To put this in context: Currently our town is reviewing the Wind Advisory Boards recommendations of 35 dBA to 40dBA at night.
Some of our town board members have pushed for 45dBA night and day. With the knowledge that 25- 45dBA is more than a doubling of our ambient nightime noise we can conclude 45dBA will lead to lack of seep and potentially adverse health affects.
People in other towns have had to abandon their homes to escape these noise affects of turbines.
Earlier this year I heard testimony from Kevin Segourney, a science teacher from Chateaugay.. He lived 1,800 to 2,600 feet from 482-foot turbines in the Jericho Wind Farm. He was living with sound levels above the allowable 50 dBA (which the town of Chateaugay had deemed to be acceptable and legal) . However the low-frequency and infrasound, were not taken into account.
In 2014 Steve and Luann Therrien abandoned their home of two decades, due to the sound and vibrations from the power plant in Sheffield, VT. The whole family developed problems sleeping and other health ailments.
In fact, after the property went up for tax sale, Energize Vermont payed off the family’s back taxes with an agreement to use the property as the Vermont Center for Turbine Impact Studies.
They will be conducting research on the affects the wind turbines have on the environment, wildlife, and the residents. The research teams will also assess the performance of state regulators in their efforts to monitor and enforce wind turbine standards.
In 2014, the Board of Health in Brown County, Wisconsin declared a local industrial wind plant to be a health hazard in a unanimous vote. This ruling was based on a year long survey with documented health complaints and demonstrated that low frequency and infrasound was emanating from the turbines and detectable inside homes within a 6.2 mile radius of the industrial wind plant.
Industrial Wind turbines are causing complaints worldwide, the documentation is growing. Part of the reason for the lag in recognition is due to the lax monitoring. Basically the companies monitor themselves. There is no real way to ensure they are in compliance with the wind laws and sound limits. There is no entity to protect us when the company is out of compliance, and they have been in many other wind farms across the country.
The companies would like you to believe this is all debatable but as someone who has read hundreds of papers, articles, peer-reviewed scientific data, and reports on the affects of wind turbines on human and animal health, I can say this needs to be acknowledged by government agencies and reported on by the media.
Clearly there is an issue here, and yet it is not being discussed openly. There is a NIMBY (not in back yard) stigma attached to anyone who dare reject the idea of a having power plant in their back yard. When discussing this with people in the communities surrounding the project, there is a disbelief and skepticism that is coupled with judgment.
Our communities need the help of surrounding towns to support them through this project to ensure the right thing happens.
There are children that will live within less than a half a mile of these turbines. We as parents deserve the right to question the ethics and morality of this project.
These things are being diminished under the guise of the greater good. I argue that it is not for the greater good to implement projects that might harm the very nature and people we are trying to protect. There have been studies on the adverse health affects experienced by badgers, geese, minks, and other animals living within close proximity to turbines who will protect them?
So is it ethical to keep covering every sacred space with these turbines for power production? Knowing they could actually set us back environmentally while simultaneous accumulating casualties.
I personally believe in the precautionary principle which is defined as:
When human activities may lead to morally unacceptable harm that is scientifically plausible but uncertain, actions shall be taken to avoid or diminish that harm.
I think if we brought this principle into the planning process of every aspect of our economy our environment would be in better shape. I am hoping to shed light on this local issue so people will demand protection for our towns and help us avoid the problems reported in other towns with industrial turbines.
I am asking NCPR to investigate this issue and help us prevent the loss of habitat, the loss of quiet spaces, and the slew of potential adverse health effects.
Thank you
~Janice Pease
Repost for next meeting. Give the radio station more specific suggestions.
I suggest: No Industrial Wind coverage, no more money and stop listening.
No real public representation on the Community Advisory Board, no more money and stop listening.
There are many alternative sources of news and information. This Week newspaper is doing real investigative industrial wind reporting, WPDM has some local news, 102.5 has wonderful music.
I am waiting for a post of written copy of the minutes to review the reaction to my public comments posted days prior to the meeting and sent to the chairman. The video posted is to long for me to wade thru at this time.
Thanks
Rich Paolillo says: Sorry my first version had a few typos, I’m new to tablets.
July 26, 2017. To be entered into the record and read in its entirety to the CAB Community Advisory Board.
Greetings Mr. Chairman,
I have read all the CAB (Community Advisory Board, aka executive council) minutes and public posts, have participated in meetings, have read all 16 pages of the CPB guidelines and have been on the phone several times with the CPB Inspector General’s office.
My participation had a minor effect in two areas. For the first time in the station’s history a CAB chair actually ran his own meeting instead of the station manager. Second, the station has partly started to use the term CAB (Community Advisory Board), the industry’s vernacular for community representation required by federal law. This station’s CAB does not to act like, nor preformed the duties of a CAB. A board is not a board unless it acts like a board!
My letter to the CAB for the February 2, 2017 meeting was not addressed at all. My name was in the minutes.
Will the SLU Trustees–the license holders–resolve the following issues for the good of the station?
The CAB does not rotate in new members as required by the NCPR station bylaws and the spirit of the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) rules of CAB guidelines. Will you remedy this? The bylaws state that there is a three-year term limit while most members have been on for seven years
The Executive Council acts as a think tank, fundraiser, and extension of the license holders, BUT it is not a CAB in any sense. Can the license holders enforce the CPB rules and install a real CAB that acts like a CAB? Such a board would take public input seriously, discuss and listen to recommended alternative news sources such as Democracy Now!, and, after due diligence, make recommendations to the station management. It’s all in the minutes of the meetings. This has NOT been done and is why I make my case here today. Not one instance of advisement, the essential function of a station CAB.
Will the trustees replace the current inactive (negligent in their basic duties) CAB, and install a CAB that will listen to Democracy Now! news as a needed alternative to the mainstream NPR based news? Democracy Now! is on 1,400 public TV, radio and 40 + NPR radio stations. Will NCPR be the last station to air this vital alternative to NPR based news? I personally know of several dozen people who no longer support or listen to NCPR and instead listen online to any radio station in the world to the exclusion of NCPR.
Ms Rocco has her bias against Democracy Now! Ms Rocco fails to see the bias, advocacy and censorship by omission built into NPR based journalism. In a democracy, there are various versions of the truth competing for vindication. NPR and PBS TV have joined forces, share reporters, and almost word for word tell the same EXACT stories every day. We need Democracy Now! as a source of award winning journalism for the turbulent times ahead.
My news habits (and other ex listeners) starts with WPDM (hyper local news for Potsdam Canton) where I hear about he impact of the Hopkinton wind farm and St Lawrence County Legislature actions and laws concerning wind/ethics etc. Then I listen to Democracy Now! In the evening PBS TV. I’ve had all the news with no over lap. Remember NPR and PBS News Hour are almost word for word, story for story, and share the same reporters! In my listening for news, NPR only comes into play occasionally, if at all. Canadian news is also very refreshing.
The license holders must act. The CAB of NCPR, your station, is broken and acts outside the laws established by the CPB and the stations own bylaws. As long as this station accepts CPB money, it must follow the law; or refuse CPB funding and become a wholly private entity.
Sincerely,
Rich Paolillo
Greetings Mr. Chairman,
I have read all the CAB (Community Advisory Board, aka executive council) minutes and public posts, have participated in meetings, have read all 16 pages of the CPB guidelines and have been on the phone several times with the CPB Inspector General’s office.
My participation had a minor effect in two areas. For the first time in the station’s history a CAB chair actually ran his own meeting instead of the station manager. Second, the station has partly started to use the term CAB (Community Advisory Board), the industry’s vernacular for community representation required by federal law. This station’ CAB does not to act like, nor preformed the suites, of a CAB. A board is not a board unless it acts like a board!
My letter to the CAB for the February 2, 2017 meeting was not addressed at all. My name was in the minutes.
Will the SLU Trustees–the license holders–resolve the following issues for the good of the station?
The CAB does not rotate in new members as required by the NCPR station bylaws and the spirit of the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) rules of CAB guidelines. Will you remedy this? The bylaws state that there is a three-year term limit while most members have been on for seven years
The Executive Council acts as a think tank, fundraiser, and extension of the license holders, BUT it is not a CAB in any sense. Can the license holders enforce the CPB rules and install a real CAB that acts like a CAB? Such a board would take public input seriously, discuss and listen to recommended alternative news sources such as Democracy Now!, and, after due diligence, make recommendations to the station management. It’s all in the minutes of the meetings. This has NOT been done and is why I make my case here today.
Will the trustees take the place of the inactive CAB and listen to Democracy Now! news as a needed alternative to the mainstream NPR based news? Democracy Now! is on 1,400 public TV, radio and 40 + NPR radio stations. Will NCPR be the last station to air this vital alternative to NPR based news? I personally know of several dozen people who no longer support or listen to NCPR and instead listen online to any radio station in the world to the exclusion of NCPR.
Ms Rocco has her bias against Democracy Now! Ms Rocco fails to see the bias, advocacy and censorship by omission built into NPR based journalism. In a democracy, there are various versions of the truth competing for vindication. NPR and PBS TV have joined forces, share reporters, and almost word for word tell the same EXACT stories every day. We need Democracy Now! as a source of award winning journalism for the turbulent times ahead.
My news habits (and other ex listeners) starts with WPDM (hyper local news for Potsdam Canton) where I hear about he impact of the Hopkinton wind farm and St Lawrence County Legislature actions and laws concerning wind/ethics etc. Then I listen to Democracy Now! In the evening PBS TV. I’ve had all the news with no over lap- Remember NPR and PBS News Hour are almost word for word, story for story, and share the same reporters! In my listening for news, NPR only comes into play occasionally, if at all.
The license holders must act. The CAB of NCPR, your station, is broken and acts outside the laws established by the CPB and the stations own bylaws.
Sincerely,
Rich Paolillo