McGregor officials, residents not in favor of proposed communication tower site
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
McGregor city officials and residents in the Ridgewood West Subdivision are asking the county to consider alternative sites for the construction of a new communication tower.
A proposed tower near Determination Park in the Ridgewood West neighborhood would be one of three in Clayton County—including Guttenberg and Elkader—constructed as part of the 911 system upgrade, according to Clayton County 911 Coordinator Samantha Rumph, who spoke at the April 19 McGregor Council meeting.
“This is the radio infrastructure, tower sites and paging county-wide. It would cover all emergency communication in our area for police, fire and EMS,” she explained.
Also on hand were Mike McGrady and Jeff Steiert, representatives from MCM Consulting Group, a project management team hired by the county to guide officials through the first system upgrade in over 20 years.
Steiert said the proposed tower is a 250-foot-tall lattice, self-supporting tower. It would contain no cellular antennas, but the minimum antennas and dishes to make communication work with the 911 system and to communicate from one tower to the other so the signal is timed appropriately.
He added that the tower’s height would cause no electronic interference or danger to the public. A fence topped with barbed wire would surround the compound, and it would be gated and locked for security.
The tower would have a generator, according to McGrady, that would run 15 minutes per week. An attenuation cover could dull the noise. The tower would be illuminated with white light during the day and red at night.
The MCM representatives said the site was chosen by the vendor who will install the communication system. The request for proposals prioritized potential city- or county-owned properties or private land and specified the system must provide a certain level of radio coverage—95 percent coverage 95 percent of the time—into all parts of Clayton County.
“For radio frequency, you look for elevation and power. Trying to get down to the river and across all the hills you have here, you want to find one of the highest spots so you can push that radio signal down into those areas. You also want to space the towers far enough apart so the radio signal doesn’t interfere,” McGrady said.
“This is one of the higher points for elevation for the tower to be placed. If we move it considerably away, that drops off sharply,” and so could coverage, Steiert added.
Rumph estimated the McGregor-Marquette area has around 60 percent coverage currently, but Mar-Mac Police Chief Robert Millin said it’s closer to 50 percent. He cited the July 4 and Labor Day weekends last year as two examples of when the department did not have communications coverage.
“We had a pursuit two weekends ago. This person was threatening to kill our officers, and we could not communicate with our officers. It’s to the point where it’s a liability,” Millin said.
Rumph is also a Mar-Mac EMT. She said fire and EMS have similar experiences.
“We may or may not get out to dispatch—they track our times and where we are. When we come into your house, if we need a helicopter, a paramedic unit, the police officers, we’re not able to ask for any of that. It’s a hazard to citizens too because, if I can’t call a helicopter for you, now your care is delayed,” she explained. “It’s been a long time since things have been upgraded. We’re to the point now where the entire system is end of life, so it’s an entire overhaul. It’s all new infrastructure.”
While residents did not discount the need, or importance, of the system, they were concerned about the proposed tower location in a residential area.
“It’s a very unpopulated county. To me, the idea we couldn’t put this tower somewhere where there’s not 100 homes within a quarter mile doesn’t make sense to me,” one attendee said.
McGregor Mayor Lyle Troester thanked residents for coming forward.
“I understand the frustration and need for 911 service, but I do not think it’s fair to try to put the guilt on these citizens for the tower. There are private areas where people would love to have the income from that tower,” he said, referencing the lease and potential payment that could be associated with it.
In addition to private landowners, Troester suggested the county consider nearby Pleasant Grove Cemetery, if possible.
“This is the best of the best on public property, and what we’re saying is we would like you to figure out what the best of the best is and take out those factors,” added McGregor Deputy City Clerk and Economic Development Lead Brandi Crozier. “We don’t want to compromise our emergency services. Please know you’re supported. We just also need to protect the health and well-being of our neighborhood.”
Rumph said they can go back to the drawing board and determine an alternate location. She understood the neighborhood concerns, but felt it was still important to propose the site.
“If we put it here, it’s going to push over the ridge and get this amazing coverage for both cities. I think we’d be doing a disservice to not bring that forward,” she said.
Business Enhancement Program continued
At last week’s meeting, the council also approved a second round of funding for the city’s Business Enhancement Program, which provides matching grants up to $5,000 to assist business owners with building facade improvements, interior capital improvements, site cleanup and development and other projects.
Guidelines have been updated for the second round of funding, and emphasize that facade improvements and signage will be required to follow established design guidelines.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must also be operational, maintain an average weekly open hours rate of 20 hours per week year-round to include weekends, or 40 hours per week seasonally from May 15 to Oct. 31. Applicants may utilize grants to make capital improvements to a building structure for a start-up business as long as the business is operational within a year of applying for the grant.
The program is intended to target businesses in downtown storefronts who serve walk-in customers as well as other businesses in the community that generate hotel/motel and/or sales tax revenue.
Engineering to be done for brick streets
The council approved a proposal from Davy Engineering, at a cost of $10,000, for design engineering for improving the brick streets around Triangle Park.
These improvements include reconstruction of the existing brick streets, replacement of sanitary sewer main on A Street connecting Main and First streets, sidewalk replacement, ADA improvements at pedestrian ramps and storm water and draining upgrades.
This is the first step in determining the cost and feasibility of the project.
