The governing boards of the Tri-Town met jointly on Tuesday, July 13 to discuss the renegotiation of the contract between the towns and ORCTV, the local access channel that provides video coverage of town meetings and other events.

The agreement provides funding to ORCTV generated through fees paid by cable companies like Verizon and Comcast to the towns.

The contract expired in 2014 and has not since been renegotiated.

“We all have a vested interest in making sure this moves forward,” said Mattapoisett Select Board member Jordan Collyer.

There was some contention between Town officials and ORCTV about what financial information the station should be required to provide to the towns and whether the reports should be sent without solicitation.

“I think that should be in the contract, that we get those [without having to request them],” said Rochester Selectman Woody Hartley.

Marion Selectman Norm Hills echoed the sentiment, believing that the agreement already called for automatic delivery of the reports.

“It says every year you’re supposed to do it, we shouldn’t have to ask,” he said.

“Well we haven’t had a contract in seven years and we’ve asked for that,” ORCTV Executive Director Robert Chiarito responded.

He added that communication works both ways, and he often has his own issues getting information from the town about things like invoices from cable companies.

Town officials also disagreed over how much, if any, control they should have over ORCTV’s board of directors.

ORCTV is an independent nonprofit organization and its board of directors is selected by its members. Anyone residing in the Tri-Town is eligible to become a member.

However, Marion Selectman John Waterman took issue with an organization that relies so heavily on public funding being allowed to choose its leadership without oversight from the towns.

“I don’t think the members are in a good position to properly vet directors,” he said. “If you’re telling me we’re responsible but we have no authority, that’s not going to work.”

Hartley, however, worried that the Selectmen might not have the legal authority to make restrictions on ORCTV’s ability to choose its own directors and after some discussion, the Tri-Town selectmen decided to seek legal advice before proceeding.

Despite the disagreements and concerns about proper oversight, selectmen did agree that overall ORCTV was an invaluable resource to the towns.

“I wouldn’t have been able to run the last two town meetings if it wasn’t for [your great work],” said Marion Town Administrator Jay McGrail.

Selectmen also mentioned that they would like to see an amendment added to the contract that would allow for the continued use of Zoom as a means of conducting hybrid in-person/virtual meetings, which Chiarito did not seem to take issue with.