HUNTLEY – As Huntley residents sprawl out on patches of grass, gazing up at aerial explosions and licking their dripping ice cream cones, Allen Pollack, N.10, will have another reason to celebrate.
If all goes according to plan, July 4, 2012 will also be the birthday of Huntley Community Radio.
“It’s a patriotic day, but it ties [the] community together, and that’s what we’re all about,” Pollack said.
(Photos provided)
The idea for Huntley Community Radio began several years ago, when Pollack realized a need for connection in Sun City. After talks with the Community Association Board over a proposed Sun City radio station fell through, Pollack thought bigger.
Sun City radio then grew to become Huntley Community Radio, an online broadcast planning to serve the entire village within a five-mile radius with news, music, local programming, and more. HCR is also in talks with Huntley High School to devote a daily slot for programming by students.
The station will stream CD-quality sound available for playback on computers, phones, and mp3 players.
Though July 4 is still months away and much needs to happen by that date, there has been plenty of progress made.
By this time last year, Pollack and fellow HCR officer Dorothy Litwin were looking for a location to serve as their headquarters – now, they have their ideal spot in sight.
“In that process we were saying, ‘Where can we broadcast from; where can we put up an antenna?'” Pollack said. “We basically looked at the geographic center of Huntley: it was right in Deicke Park.”
Upon arriving in Deicke Park, Pollack and Litwin met Thom Palmer, executive director of the Huntley Park District. Little did they know how well the meeting would go.
“He [Palmer] drove us over there, [and] my mouth dropped because it was everything we would ever have hoped for,” Pollack said, describing Deicke Park’s office building.
The district’s finance department had moved, and the vacated office space came complete with furniture, cubicle workspace, a reception area, and rooms to serve as a studio and production room.
“It’s a real good fit, actually, and so we’re just kind of moving forward with the paperwork at this point, and ultimately it will get to the park board for their consideration,” Palmer said.
A final decision will be made by March or April, when HCR is set to sign a lease agreement with the Park District. In order for HCR to set up shop in Deicke Park, it needs a special-use permit, since the area around Deicke Park is zoned for residential use.
Pollack expressed confidence the agreement will go through and said HCR’s current focus is fundraising. With about $30,000 raised, it needs another $20,000 to $25,000 to cover startup Internet broadcasting costs.
HCR has a few different options to achieve this. For example, five donors offering $5,000 would cover those costs, as would Pollack’s other idea: a dollar from everyone in Huntley.
One path the station can’t take is taxes. Because HCR is a 501c3 non-profit organization, they also have requirements to follow, such as how 20 percent of their revenue must come from small donations.
The radio station has picked up steam with village officials, including Mayor Chuck Sass, who joked about his interest in volunteering as a play-by-play sports announcer.
Village Trustee Pam Fender told of her idea for an interview program in which she speaks with local figures and those who have given their time and efforts to make Huntley better.
“I know how talk radio can inform people and tell them ‘Hey, this is going on in your area,’ and to me local makes the most difference in people’s lives,” Fender said.
Litwin said the village officials and residents “should be commended” for their support and help with the station. But if HCR is to achieve its main goal and become an FM station, it will not only need more funding but approval of the FCC.
The FCC offers “windows” of time when it accepts applications for new low-powered FM stations. Pollack anticipates the next window to be open this summer, and he said HCR will be ready to file its application.
“We’re going to make sure that there is no inappropriate language, that we are not creating slanderous statements, that we are doing everything that would be appropriate if we were issued a license by the FCC,” he said.
Pollack, a former project manager at Hewlett Packard, had no radio experience before HCR. He approached the station as a new project, applying old skills and learning new things along the way.
“It’s becoming somewhat of a passion now,” he said. “I really now want to see this become a legacy that whoever starts this station can leave and see it continue to operate.”
