Print
E-mail
Rate
County may seek new tower for 911 equipment
By Joe Benedict/MVM News Network
FORT MADISON –– The county will have to look for a new tower to attach 911 equipment to if a deal isn’t reached between Appleberry Orchard, formerly Faeth’s Orchard, and Iowa Public Television.
The new owners of the orchard, Ryan and Jessica Welch, have not renewed the lease for the land on which the tower sits. The lease ended June 30. The two parties reached a 90-day extension agreement, but IPTV is paying $1,700 a month to keep the tower on the land for those 90 days.
The supervisors have a few options, including locating another tower to rent space on or condemning the land around the tower and having the county purchase it. IPTV also could ask if it could purchase the land so the television station doesn’t have to move its tower to another location. That process would take more than 90 days.
Assistant Board Secretary B.J. Stephens said she received a letter about the situation on Monday evening from the State Attorney General’s Office. Supervisor Larry Kruse made the rare move to amend the agenda at the start of the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday in Fort Madison.
Lee County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Cirinna said the county only leases space on that tower, so perhaps the supervisors should ask Iowa Public Television what its plans are before making any moves.
Kruse said the county does need a tower in that general area (on Highway 2 west of Fort Madison) to provide communication for emergency crews. There are two other towers in the area. None of the supervisors or Cirinna know who owns the towers.
Cirinna said there also is an issue as to whether the signals being broadcast from those towers are close to the frequency of the emergency radios and could interfere with the broadcasts.
Cirinna said he would do some online research to find out who owns the other towers in the area and see if they would be suitable for the 911 equipment. He said he didn’t know how tall the towers were either.
The supervisors and Cirinna are going to do some research in the next few days and then have a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday to discuss the county’s options.
The new owners of the orchard, Ryan and Jessica Welch, have not renewed the lease for the land on which the tower sits. The lease ended June 30. The two parties reached a 90-day extension agreement, but IPTV is paying $1,700 a month to keep the tower on the land for those 90 days.
The supervisors have a few options, including locating another tower to rent space on or condemning the land around the tower and having the county purchase it. IPTV also could ask if it could purchase the land so the television station doesn’t have to move its tower to another location. That process would take more than 90 days.
Assistant Board Secretary B.J. Stephens said she received a letter about the situation on Monday evening from the State Attorney General’s Office. Supervisor Larry Kruse made the rare move to amend the agenda at the start of the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday in Fort Madison.
Lee County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Cirinna said the county only leases space on that tower, so perhaps the supervisors should ask Iowa Public Television what its plans are before making any moves.
Kruse said the county does need a tower in that general area (on Highway 2 west of Fort Madison) to provide communication for emergency crews. There are two other towers in the area. None of the supervisors or Cirinna know who owns the towers.
ADVERTISEMENT |
Cirinna said he would do some online research to find out who owns the other towers in the area and see if they would be suitable for the 911 equipment. He said he didn’t know how tall the towers were either.
The supervisors and Cirinna are going to do some research in the next few days and then have a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday to discuss the county’s options.
 |
 |
|
| State’s oldest county fair under way | Multi-agency force finds evidence of meth labs locally |
