Above: Amy Schenck, station manager, works the controls at OBTV-15. With the hiring of Schenck and a push by the administration, Old Bridge Township’s television station is moving into the 21st century. Below: Three new cameras stand by in the newly equipped station at the Municipal Complex. Up until last year, OBTV-15, Old Bridge’s local television station, was utilizing outdated equipment including VHS tapes.
Now with a newly hired full-time station manager, Amy Schenck, and a push by the administration, the station is moving into the 21st century.
“It’s a whole new world,” said township Business Administrator Christopher Marion, adding that municipalities are limited in the manner in which they communicate due to funding. “It’s been a vision of Mayor [Owen Henry’s] administration to develop resources to get messages out to the residents.”
Under the direction of Schenck, council meetings are now aired on YouTube.com, which began on July 10. Marion said since the township currently does not have the opportunity to stream council meetings live, posting the meetings on YouTube, which is at no cost to the township, is the next best thing.
The station will feature educational programs, business operations around the township and any notices of future events, which will also appear on the township’s social media sites including the website and Facebook.
“We are currently talking about Twitter,” said Marion.
Henry and Stephen Mamakas, director of economic development, said they are reaching out to the library to see if they are interested in featuring programs on the local channel as well as the school district to showcase the talented student body and senior center.
The local channel has already featured the new addition at Raritan Bay Medical Center as well as a spotlight on the software company iCIMS located on Matawan Road.
Schenck said in the event of an emergency, she would have the ability to access the station remotely and get a bulletin on the local channel as quickly as possible. Henry and Marion said they learned quickly after superstorm Sandy in 2012 how important communication by any means is with the public. With OBTV-15, it gives officials another outlet for communication whether it is to showcase what the town has to offer or an emergency situation.
Marion said with the help of a Homeland Security grant and by allocating capital improvement funds in the last two budget cycles, the township was able to invest in new equipment and bring in a fulltime station manager.
Some $161,072 was invested for new equipment in December 2014, including a brand new camcorder and three cameras, which moved the station away from VHS tapes and brought in DVDs and SD cards.
“The equipment and technology is the freshest out there … very close to a professional television station,” Schenck said, adding that the use of DVDs and SD cards will save the municipality money in the long run because of the storage capabilities.
Marion said with the old equipment, parts had to be found on eBay.
Township officials said some of the old equipment was donated to a local school and some equipment was recycled.
The station previously was run by a part-time employee and long-time volunteers Gene McLoughlin, Harry Pantos and Joe Noll. McLoughlin and Pantos still volunteer their time; Noll has since retired and moved out of state.
Marion said other volunteers would serve on a temporary basis.
“We had high school students and college students; however, taping a Zoning Board and Planning Board meeting is not exciting,” he said.