Council grants WhiStle FM $6,000 to become emergency broadcaster

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 24, 2016
By Ali Raza

WhiStle Radio - or WhiStle FM - has a new name, a new frequency, more range and is now designated as the town’s emergency broadcast service.

That’s what Whitchurch-Stouffville town council decided Tuesday after an hour-long discussion of the radio station’s role in the community prompted by a request for $6,000 from the town. The request and the following discussion were prompted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) mandate that all community radio stations become emergency broadcast services or “they close down.”

The mandate coincides with WhiStle Radio’s acquisition of the FM frequency 102.9.

“It took two years and hundreds of volunteer hours, but CRTC has granted us 102.9, that’s our new home forever,” WhiStle Radio broadcaster Brenda Masson told council.

“We’re very blessed to have a community radio station in this town. In keeping with a new frequency, we thought we’d get a new name, we are now WhiStle FM.”

WhiStle FM approached council for the grant to cover costs of the installation of a new antenna, where they wish to install on the clock tower in Civic Square and to cover costs for the installation of the emergency broadcast system.

Whistle FM has until March 2017 to have the emergency broadcast system running and operational, CRTC said.

The station’s current antenna is atop the Stouffville Medical Centre building. The range from the antenna only covers “two or three blocks in downtown Stouffville,” Masson said.

The new antenna installation proposed at the clock tower would expand coverage to Kennedy Road in the west, Tenth Line in the east and up to Ballantrae in the north.

The original request of $15,000 was lowered to $6,000 after the station decided to not ask for money for a new generator.

The need for a generator and an antenna location prompted further discussion, notably from Councillor Hugo Kroon, who suggested using a fire station as a location for both.

Councillor Rob Hargrave was in open support of the station, suggesting council grant it $10,000 instead of $6,000.

Hargrave’s motion to grant WhiStle FM $10,000 was denied and council decided to grant the radio station $6,000 as requested. Mayor Justin Altmann added to that by offering $2,000 from the Mayor’s Community Fund.