MOUNT VERNON — Rip Robbins plans to spend a lot of time on the road this summer. He’ll have to. It’s going to take a lot of face time to get people excited about producing radio shows for the new station based in Hamilton.

For the most part, residents up the valley don’t have much radio reception at all. But that will soon change, said Robbins, KSVR general manager.

The station was issued a permit by the Federal Communications Commission to create a radio station in Hamilton, and it could start broadcasting shows within a year, Robbins said. The Hamilton station will provide service from Sedro-Woolley to Rockport.

But Robbins doesn’t want to just recycle content from the Skagit Valley College station, at 91.7 FM. He wants residents up river to contribute their own flavor to the programming.

That’s why he needs to visit with so many people this summer.

“It’s going to take a number of conversations to find the right people and develop a focus,” Robbins said. “It’s going to take energy from a number of groups and individuals to collaborate and get involved with radio.”

While he drums up supporters, he also has to find an appropriate call sign, like KSVR.

Robbins said most of the good ones are taken. Even KURR, which would stand for “up river radio” is taken by a station in Oklahoma.

“This is the fun part,” he said. “I’m exploring what letters sound good. I want to know how they feel when I say them. ... There’s a big emphasis on what they mean.”

Robbins hopes residents will want to create regular daily programming, whether it’s based around music or a talk show. Eventually he hopes to broadcast government meetings live on the radio.

“Some people are not able to go, and the radio is the medium that provides that service for people,” Robbins said.

Debra Heinzman, the new mayor of Lyman, said she hadn’t heard of the station yet, but sounded pleasantly surprised at the possibility.

“Once you get past Sedro-Woolley, it’s all downhill from there. We don’t even get good reception for cellular phones,” she said, then paused. “It would be nice if we could have good reception for the cell phones instead of the new radio station.”

But Heinzman does see the practicality of a radio station dedicated to residents up river. Emergency messages could reach people faster, or residents could plan for floods easier if they knew when the river might crest.

“It would be wonderful in those situations,” she said.

Robbins agreed, but takes it one step further.

“We’re going to help provide a conversation for the valley,” Robbins said. “We are going to help them have a conversation to the things that matter to them. I think, once this gets going, people will want to use it.”

Robbins also has higher goals. He hopes to eventually have eight hours of area-specific programming per day on the station. High schools could contribute, he said. Eventually he wants the station to have its own office.

“I hope Concrete High School or Sedro-Woolley utilize it somehow,” Robbins said.

Skagit Valley College students have participated in programming for KSVR for a number of years on and off, Robbins said.

“It gives them a great college experience,” he said. “It helps with practical skills like speaking and writing a script for broadcast. ... They are preparing a program, which means they are thinking about it ahead of time.”

KSVR also has two outstanding applications, one in Clinton and another at Smokey Point, said Robbins. Those applications are in competition with 11 other applicants, he said. The FCC opened applications nationwide for the first time in 10 years and gave all organizations one filing window.

Robbins said he hasn’t done much prep work on those sites because he doesn’t want to get residents’ hopes up if the station doesn’t pan out.

“I really didn’t want to have to deal with the aftermath that there wasn’t going to be a station,” he said.

• Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at .