By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

A new radio station is on its way to Berlin, bringing live and recorded music, educational programming, local history stories, roundtable discussions and emergency alert capabilities.

The radio station, Radio Free Berlin, will operate at 94.1 FM and be managed by the nonprofit organization We Heart Berlin.

We Heart Berlin President Jeff Smith went before the town’s mayor and council at the body’s Jan. 27 meeting to seek a letter of support from the municipality for the communications initiative.

The body voted 3-0, with Councilmember Steve Green and Vice President Dean Burrell absent, to approve the request, with the caveat that the radio station communicate emergency alerts on behalf of the town.

The Town of Berlin will also provide the nonprofit with access to the water tower at Bryan Avenue and Franklin Avenue to serve as the site of an antenna installation for clear radio station signal transmission.

Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall maintained that the two parties, the municipality and the charitable organization, would enter into a use agreement and that the town would not charge We Heart Berlin a fee for their utilization of the water tower space.

“They are a nonprofit, and with that, we are trying to assist with them onboarding a radio station for Berlin, by Berlin,” Tyndall said.

Smith added that We Heart Berlin is in the process of applying for a grant through the county to help fund the project.

According to the president of We Heart Berlin, the group applied in December 2023 to obtain a low-power FM radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate with a maximum of 100 watts of effective radiated power.

The FCC approved the application in November and gave the nonprofit three years to construct an antenna and install a transmitter to give station’s signal a large enough radius to cover the town of Berlin.

“We view this as a radio station in, for, about, and by the Town of Berlin,” Smith said.

The station will offer local news and sports, original radio drama and theatre performances, a broadcast of mayor, council, and county commissioner meetings, local historical information, and more.

“One of our goals is to include the school systems in our programming,” Smith said. “We would have space on the air dedicated to the schools to be able to broadcast educational programs or have kids run their own shows on the air. We will also include shows about Berlin’s history.”

Smith noted that the radio station will be operational for 24 hours “in theory” and that the FCC requires it to be operated for at least 5 hours a day.

Tyndall said he would also like the radio to implement emergency alerts, such as storm warning messages, to inform Berlin residents of any impending hazards or threats. Smith said they would be happy to do that.

“If it’s storm-related or something, we can provide that material to [the station operators], and they can push it out on our behalf,” the mayor said.