The case of the phantom communications tower near Staplehurst was confirmed – but not solved – by the Seward County Commissioners Sept. 29, who discovered some plot twists and more chapters to come.
Seward County Zoning Administrator Marissa Pfile told commissioners that the tower appears on the Federal Communication Commission map and was apparently to have been constructed by DS Communication in 2008. But no construction ever occurred, and that situation remains a mystery.
The discrepancy came up Sept. 21 when the Seward County Planning Commission voted against recommending the county board issue a conditional use permit for the Grinnell Group to build a new 255-foot wireless communications tower west of Staplehurst and asked if other towers, including the 2008 tower on the map, could be used instead.
Darren Hunter of Grinnell Group, which is trying to build the tower for Verizon, is the one who said no such tower existed.
The Seward County Board of Commissioners began its public hearing on Grinnell Group’s permit application with agreement the 2008 tower did not get built.
The commissioners have not yet decided whether the new 255-foot tower should be built for Verizon and other companies that would lease space on it.
Tower aids coverage
Doug Barker of Grinnell Group, who joined Hunter at the commissioners’ public hearing, spoke to the need for a new, taller tower near Staplehurst. The proposed tower would address coverage gaps in the area as defined by dropped call numbers and other service measures.
Towers of different heights serve multiple purposes, including extending a communication company’s capacity for service, as well as broadening the company’s coverage or geographic reach.
“Once they (towers) are at capacity, they have to decrease the coverage area. There is only so much data that can go through,” Barker said.
Hunter said existing towers near Staplehurst are not tall enough to address capacity needed in its topography. That issue is less ideal for the tenant companies who would rent lower space on the towers for their customer networks.
The number of dropped calls and other service needs in the Staplehurst area merit a new tower, the men said.
Most calls wireless
Barker said nationally, more than 70% of phone users have dropped their hard-wired land lines and 85% of the calls made to E911 originate from wireless devices.
Barker, who is from Georgia, said in Atlanta, towers are no more than a mile apart, while in Seward they may work three or four miles apart.
Dale Niemann, who lives in the Staplehurst area and chairs the planning commission, spoke to the commissioners in favor of the tower as a private citizen, noting inconsistent service in his area. Commissioner Raegan Hain, who lives nearby and represents Niemann’s district, sent a letter to the planning commission as a private citizen opposing it.
Hain said Sept. 29 that she would not vote on the tower, even though she understood the need for better coverage. She said there is more need for coverage further north toward the Butler County line.
Barker said this tower would help communication companies connect wireless service tower to tower, because some overlap between them enables more seamless service.
Tower a precursor
Hunter said a tower near Staplehurst would still be needed.
“This site going in is the precursor to developing coverage to the north,” he said. “That is the reason this tower is here, allowing them to expand to areas that are far less served.”
But no vote or action was taken at the meeting.
Commission Chair Misty Ahmic asked Grinnell Group to go back to their client and submit an updated application for consideration because a conditional use permit would not transfer from the builder to the eventual owner of the tower. The communication company would have to reapply if a conditional use permit was granted.
She said the county will also work to have the phantom tower removed from the FCC map because the error may limit the area’s ability to get more comprehensive services in the long run.
Zoning change requested
Also at the Sept. 29 meeting, the commissioners again discussed the need to update decommissioning regulations for communication and other towers.
They asked that the county’s new zoning regulations be amended to require the “foundations, buildings and ancillary equipment” be removed to a minimum of 10 feet below grade.
Currently the regulations require up to four feet be removed.
Discussion centered on the depth of soil to be excavated if there was another use for such sites.
In other action the commissioners:
• Approved two Windstream utility permits to bore under Waverly Road west of 140th Road and 196th Road south of Highway 34.
• Asked Seward County Emergency Manager Megan Eckles to work with Deputy County Attorney Barbara Armstead to review an Everbridge contract for emergency management services and a memorandum of agreement between the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Integrated Public Alert and Warning System for emergency network services.
• Appointed Crystal Kirby to represent the Bee area and Kelly Burianek to serve the Garland area on the Seward County Aging Services Advisory Board, as presented by Aging Services Program Manager Alisha Fisher, but deferred action on appointment of a Seward area representative until Commissioner Scott Pekarek could be present.
• Granted a short-form plat, separating 5.49 acres from a parcel of 10.97 acres in Naylor Addition in Township 12 as requested by Michael Naylor.
