It took awhile, but it's finally done.

The Selectmen on Tuesday voted to finalize a payment agreement between the town and cable access network Wareham Community Television (WCTV), after lengthy negotiations.

"As most people know, this has been going on for years and years," said Selectmen Chair Steve Holmes.

WCTV broadcasts on Comcast channels 9 and 97, and Verizon channels 30 and 28. It has separate contracts with each provider.

WCTV hammered out separate contracts with Comcast and Verizon in 2005 and 2007, respectively. The TV station was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2007.

The new contracts will expire in 2015 for Comcast, and 2017 for Verizon.

Under the contract, both cable companies pay 4% of gross revenues from cable services in the Town of Wareham to WCTV, and 0.5% to the town.

The agreement states that WCTV will cover all Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and Town Meetings. Coverage of other municipal meetings will have to be requested ten business days in advance.

Issues with WCTV live-streaming on the Internet arose, as WCTV's attorney Margaret Ishihara pointed out that "Comcast and Verizon make money off of people who are watching on TV," and may see live-streaming on the Internet as competition.

The live-streaming is not currently part of a "contractual arrangement," according to WCTV Executive Director Jay Heard.

Noting that he doesn't believe people are "poaching" live streams of municipal meetings off of the Internet, Selectman Peter Teitelbaum said: "This is something that can be brought up with the cable providers themselves."

There is also a stipulation in the contract that limits the amount WCTV and the town would have to pay in an arbitration situation to $500 each. Arbitration is a way to resolve disputes without taking the issue to court.

Ishihara pointed out that any arbitration issues were likely to be narrow in scope.

"Issues of whether WCTV didn't cover something when [the town] said we were supposed to" were the most likely to arise, and could be resolved without hiring an outside arbitrator, she said.