Cook County Information System (IS) Director Rena Rogers came before the Cook County Board of Commissioners with an informational update about two planned Allied Radio Matrix Emergency Response (ARMER) towers that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) plans to add in Cook County near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
One tower will be located approximately 3½ miles southeast of Sawbill Canoe Outfitters and one will be near Devilfish Lake near the end of the Arrowhead Trail. Both would be located on land owned by the county, said Rogers.
At issue, said Rogers is the suggested height of the towers. To provide best coverage, MnDOT is proposing that the towers be 330 feet tall. A taller tower allows more ARMER radios to receive and send messages from greater distances, said Rogers, adding that these new towers are part of a 12 tower system in Cook County designed by the state to provide Cook County and the rest of Minnesota a statewide standard for public safety.
But any tower taller than 200 feet must be equipped with flashing red lights at night and white lights during the day so that airplane pilots can spot them. Lights from towers near the BWCAW could potentially be seen by campers in the wilderness, which could be a big issue for some campers/canoers.
Towers painted red and white can be put up without day lights, but the high cost to have them repainted every seven years or so might be an issue, said Commissioner Garry Gamble. MnDOT would be responsible for the maintenance of the towers, said Rogers.
The alternative is to build 180-foot-tall towers, Rogers said, which do not require any lighting. But because of their lower height, the ability to transmit and receive radio signals by the sheriff ’s department, the U.S. Forest Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Homeland Security, Cook County Search & Rescue or Cook County Ambulance Squad would also be diminished, and any gaps in coverage would be the county’s responsibility, she said.
“It really is the county’s decision to decide the height of the towers,” Rogers said.
Their [MnDOT’s] recommendation is for coverage, but they are leaving it up to you to decide the height.”
The county’s 911 Communication Committee voted unanimously to recommend the 330-foot towers to the county board. This committee is made up of ARMER radio users (Search & Rescue, ambulance, police, etc.) that come from all parts of the county, said Rogers.
But if the county board votes to go with the higher towers, Rogers cautioned,
There may exist, however, the risk of litigation, as was experienced in Ely a few years back if the county were to allow MnDOT to build these higher towers.”
That litigation involved the 450-foot cell phone tower put up by AT&T on the edge of the BWCAW. The Friends of the Boundary Waters sued AT&T but lost in court after long, expensive legal battle and the tower was built several years ago.
Commissioner Garry Gamble said he has heard that the Friends of the Boundary Waters have already drawn maps with sight lines from the prospective towers to lakes in the BWCAW where the flashing red lights could be seen. He asked Rogers to find out how much area the 180-foot towers could cover, and how much of a gap there might be in coverage from the shorter towers.
West End County Commissioner Ginny Storlie said safety was an important issue, but she was concerned with the placement of the two towers near the BWCAW, and if built to 330 feet tall, the impact they could have on the BWCAW campers.
MnDOT doesn’t have a timetable for putting up the two ARMER towers currently being discussed, said Rogers, adding that the state plans to add two more ARMER towers after these are up and running.
“They haven’t selected those two sites yet, but they will probably put them up on state land,” she said, adding that they will be the last towers put up in the county by MnDOT.
Heidi Doo-Kirk, county board chair, asked Rogers if she could get a MnDOT employee to come and speak to the county board about the ARMER towers. Rogers said she would try to set up a meeting as soon as possible. Doo-Kirk said she recently attended a hospital board meeting that was opened to the public and she appreciated the way that board allowed public comments. Those comments went over 2 hours, she said, adding that if the public attended the meeting on this issue or any other hot topic, the county board should be ready for a long public comment period. The board agreed with her.
In other business
. Leah Ekstrom was hired as Cook County Attorney’s Office Administrator starting January 27, at a B-21, step 1 pay rate, which is $13.79 per hour.
. The board approved a raffle and bingo permit for the Cook County Snowmobile Club. They will be holding a raffle and bingo at their annual Fun Run at the Devil Track Landing on February 7.
. Also approved was the renewal for Nelson Machine Products LLC and North Shore Waste for their annual solid waste haulers licenses.
. The board also approved appointing a second commissioner on the University of Minnesota Extension Committee, as state statute requires. Commissioner Frank Moe will join Commissioner Gamble on that board.
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