BAILEYVILLE – This town is one of the first in Washington County to have a set of guidelines to govern the community’s public access television station.

Last year, a group of residents volunteered to serve on the Baileyville Community Access Television committee, nicknamed BaCat, and months later, members presented their comprehensive product to the town councilors.

The town has two public access cable channels, Channel 10, which is owned and operated by the residents of the community, and Channel 8, which is owned and operated by St. Croix Video Productions.

The guidelines apply only to Channel 10. “We put a lot of work into this,” said committee member Betty Gibbs.

At the meeting Monday night, councilors praised the committee members for their work.

In their mission statement, BaCat said the goal was to provide residents with quality, diverse, entertaining public, educational and governmental programs for their private, noncommercial enjoyment.

In addition, the committee said it was dedicated to the goal of having residents trained to handle programming and obtain the equipment necessary to operate Channel 10.

The committee also established specific guidelines, including a policy that privately produced videos must meet quality standards before they are aired.

Included in the guidelines are standards for public access by political candidates as well as the use of the crawl line for public service announcements.

The regulations follow standard Federal Communications Commission rules that prohibit the use of profanity or obscenity and include guidelines to guard against defamation.

The committee also set up a grievance policy for any person who objects to the policy. We still feel like we have a mission,” said committee member David Townsend at a meeting of the Baileyville Town Council on Monday night. “We see Channel 10 growing.”

Townsend said that at some point, the committee would like to involve the high school in the activities of the local TV station.

Town Manager Jack Clukey said the committee was interested in using the franchise fees the town collects from Adelphia Cable Co.

“The consensus of the committee was that the town should continue to collect the franchise fee to bolster Channel 10’s ability to replenish equipment that breaks,” he said. Clukey said the town collects around $10,000 a year. As residents switched to digital equipment, he said, that fee could increase.

The committee members suggested that the money collected should be used to buy equipment and for programming as well as to train students from Woodland High School. They said some of the money might also be used to provide scholarships for students who are interested in pursing a degree in broadcasting.

Town Council Chairman Doug Jones said that in order to designate the money collected in franchise fees for the operation of Channel 10, the issue would have to be placed before voters at the town meeting in March.