This transmitter on Mount Fanny near Cove is part of the Blue Mountain Translator District’s network, which broadcasts to Union and Baker counties. The district is moving forward to start a local channel to provide information during the coronavirus outbreak.

LA GRANDE — Union and Baker county residents who receive their television signals from the Blue Mountain Translator District soon will be closer to the pulse of the COVID-19 crisis.

The district is speeding up its effort to get a non-commercial, public access-type television channel on the air, one which will help residents of the two counties keep up with what their government is doing on the local level and receive emergency information much faster.

The district board voted Monday to begin working toward getting a public access channel operating. District Executive Director Alex McHaddad said he and his board had planned to wait until July to get a public access channel on the air but decided instead to do it as soon as possible due to the growing COVID-19 crisis.

“The time is right to do this,” McHaddad said. “We should have it up in about three weeks. That is the goal.”

The new channel will provide live broadcasts of meetings of the county commissioners, city councils and school boards, information about emergency situations and more. Viewers will be able to watch broadcasts of these meetings on television and online via livestreaming.

McHaddad said an increasing number of people are going to want to watch government board meetings because of COVID-19 and they will not be able to attend due to new state restrictions on prohibiting gatherings. The channel will help residents keep up with what their local government is doing. It also will help get the word out about new developments.

District board member Christina Wood said the channel would, for example, broadcast information about the local distribution of medicine for the treatment of COVID-19.

“We have to get information on the ground to everyone,” Wood said. “We speeded up the pace because of this.”

McHaddad said emergency service providers, including Union County and Grande Ronde Hospital, will be able to quickly share urgent messages via the public access channel.

The BMTD board will work with TelVue Corporation, a broadcast technology firm, and Sinclair Broadcasting, in getting the new channel on the air at a cost of $23,000. McHaddad said he hopes sponsorships will offset the cost of setting up the new channel.

He told his board Monday getting the new channel up and running will not stretch the district’s budget too thin, noting its reserve fund will remain solid.

“If something blows up, the BMTD will still have the money it needs to make repairs,” McHaddad said.

He said the new channel will operate at least through the COVID-19 crisis. If the channel is not self-supporting by that point, the district may shut it down until the board develops a sustainable plan.

The 2019 Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 394 makes the channel possible. The bill gives a public translator district the authority to use the technology necessary to create public access-type channels.