County weighs its options for new cellular tower site

Caldwell County is studying where to place one of the communications towers off St. Mark's Road at the northern end of the county near Blowing Rock that will be part of the new emergency wireless system.

During Monday's Caldwell County Board of Commissioners meeting, interim County Manager Bobby White presented two options: Continue to lease an existing site from a tower provider or lease with an option to purchase at a neighboring location.

The tower will link up with four others that are or will be located at the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office, the Granite Falls water tank, Hibriten Mountain and Butte Mountain in Kings Creek. The system, part of a $6.5 million package approved by the commissioners in December 2006, is designed to provide improved wireless communications coverage for law enforcement agencies, fire departments and emergency responders.

According to a revised proposal at the existing St. Marks site - managed by wireless infrastructure company CrownCastle - a present lease agreement would be extended to 30 years at a fee of $900 per month with an annual 3-percent escalator. The county would build the new tower at an estimated expense of $180,000.

While current fees paid by wireless carriers on the existing tower go directly to CrownCastle, any new revenue generated from wireless carriers co-locating on the new tower would be split 50-50 between the county and CrownCastle up to the lease fee. Beyond that total, the county would receive 35 percent of any new revenues.

White said a potential hurdle involves lingering questions about obtaining right-of-way access to build the 199-foot tower.

“We cannot give you a definitive legal guarantee of the right of way,” White told the commissioners.

The other option is to enter into a 40-year lease - or purchase for $185,000 - a property near the existing tower. The county would have to cut an access road from U.S. 321 to reach the site.

Both leasing options for the existing site and the neighboring location total $290,200 over a 20-year span. By exercising the option to finance and purchase the other property at 4-percent interest, the county would pay $269,040.

The commissioners have placed the tower site options on the May 19 agenda.

“In order to be completed, we need to identify this final site location,” White said. “We desperately need to move on with the project.”

Meanwhile, the commissioners rescinded a generic vehicle policy that had been in place since 2006 in favor of a more comprehensive plan.

The outline provides for disciplinary action if a county employee does not have a vehicle properly serviced at the county's motor fleet garage and stipulates that all driving records must be checked. County Human Resources Director David Hill said the the department is connected with a system that automatically reports if an employee has a motor vehicle violation.

In other business, the commissioners:

€ Awarded construction of a Harpertown community park to Wilkie Construction. The $85,700 project is being paid for by a Community Development Block Grant.

€ Received an annual report from the Communities in Schools program and a plan from the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council. Also, the Caldwell Cooperative Extension Service provided an update of its recent activities.

€ Approved a resolution recognizing May as Older American's month.

€ Granted Greenhouse Gas Services a 90-day due diligence period to study the former Mt. Herman Landfill for potential methane recovery and energy credits potential.

€ Approved providing $167,398.23 toward the purchase of furniture and other items for the Caldwell Early College. As part of a previous agreement, Caldwell County Schools and Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute each will contribute the same amounts, bringing the overall cost of the furnishing to $502,194.70.

Caldwell Planning Board approves tower

During Monday night's Caldwell Planning Board meeting at the County Library in Lenoir, a conditional use permit for the construction of a new cell tower on Laytown Road off N.C. 268 unanimously was recommended for approval.

The request, submitted by Pegasus Tower, is for a 110-foot structure with flush-mounted antennas. The location of the tower would be on 41 acres of property owned by Jack and Reva Dula.

The meeting was the first by the newly-constructed planning board that has been reduced from 15 members to nine.

The permit request is scheduled for a public hearing at the May 19 county commission meeting.

Lenoir boosts IBT payments

The Lenoir City Council voted to revise and extend the terms of its funding of a legal challenge to the Interbasin Transfer (IBT) granted to the cities of Concord and Kannapolis.

Lenoir has joined several Catawba River basin communities - including Hickory, Granite Falls, Hudson and Morganton - in challenging the transfer, which would allow the two Cabarrus County municipalities to receive up to 10 million gallons of water per day from the river.

In changing the funding, Lenoir now will contribute up to $70,000 toward the legal fight through 2013. The original agreement had Lenoir giving $30,000 through 2011.

City Manager Lane Bailey said the city has been paying $5,000 per year, but will increase that amount to $10,000, beginning in 2009.

In other business, Bailey said the original estimate of the Veterans Memorial project in downtown has been revised upward to $134,478. He said the city still intends to pay for the construction and development of the site, at the existing monument location at the corner of West Avenue and Main Street, through the sale of brick pavers. The pavers, which can be purchased to reflect the service of any veteran, are available at Lenoir City Hall.

Additional items from the meeting included:

€ Approval of an intent to reimburse the estimated $3.1 million in improvements at the Whitnel Pump Station. Bailey said the measure is needed because the city may have to front some of the expenses until planned funding arrives.

€ Approval of the publication of the list of delinquent city property taxes. Lenoir Finance Director Danny Gilbert said the city, which began collecting its property taxes in the current fiscal year, has received more than 95 percent of the taxes owed.

€ Final approval of a subdivision plat for Habitat for Humanity for 15 lots located at the end of Cypress Court in the Honey Hills development.

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