- November 19, 2024
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Cell phone and Wi-Fi reception may soon get a little better in Flagler County.
The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously at a Jan. 13 meeting to approve engineering company Parallel Infrastructure’s application to erect a 150-foot telecommunications tower on land the company leases from FEC Rail Holdings along County Road 200.
"There is existing fiber optics infrastructure running up and down those lines," said engineer Gerald Muldowney, representing Parallel infrastructure on behalf of FEC Rail Holdings. "By utilizing this location, we have that infrastructure already there."
AT&T will be the tower's anchor tenant. But County Administrator Craig Coffey said having the tower could also benefit county operations.
“These towers do help your first responders at every level, and even the Sheriff’s Office,” he said. “A lot of our folks are dealing with Wi-Fi — whether it be on a smart phone, AT&T or Verizon — so as these networks are built out, they’re all very helpful, at least along the main corridors, for our emergency responders.”
County Planning Director Adam Mengel said the application met the county’s criteria for special use, and he made some recommendations: that the monopole tower be unmarked and unlighted, except as required for safety, and that it be a neutral, non-glare color.
Parallel Infrastructure asked for a variance on a county requirement to camouflage the tower as a giant tree, a strategy Muldowney said wouldn’t make sense for the area because the tower would be about twice the height of any trees nearby.
“In this area, we really don’t have any trees that are even close to that height,” he said. Trying to make it look like one, he said, would make it stand out, not blend in.
The county discussed painting the bottom part of it green and the upper part blue, but ultimately approved Muldowney’s suggestion to permit galvanized steel, which he said will be a dull finish that will be just reflective enough to “reflect ambient light conditions” and not stand out against a bright or dark sky. The bottom part of the tower could be painted, he said.
All sides of the tower will be landscaped except the side facing the railroad, Mudowney said. For safety reasons, the railroad company will not permit that side to be landscaped. “We tried to landscape everything we could,” he said.
County Commission Chairman George Hanns asked about “fall zone,” the area the tower might strike if it were to topple over, and suggested the county receive discounted rates if it decides to use the monopole for county communications.
Muldowney said the monopole is designed to collapse in on itself, leaving a fall zone radius of only about 11 feet, and that Parallel Infrastructure would offer Flagler County reduced rates for using the tower.
