County Commissioners to discuss Union cell tower and easement next to Museum
Public input not required to build 2nd cell tower adjacent to Museum
by Pinedale Online!
April 18, 2016
Union Wireless has requested a building permit with Sublette County to build a 60’ cellular communications tower on land adjacent to the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale. The tower would be on Anderson Family Trust property approximately 60 feet east of the parking lot on the southeast side of the Museum of the Mountain Man. The permit application shows the site development as a 60 foot metal tower with two shelters surrounded by a 10 foot high weeny board fence. The metal tower would also have a round microwave antenna positioned lower down on the pole to point to Mount Airy or Cora Butte. The new Union tower would be nearly directly east of where the Crow Sun Dance Lodge tipi is on the south side of the Museum.
The building permit application to the County was made on February 11, 2016.
Normally these kinds of applications are processed without the need for public meetings or input, however in this case Union is asking for a special right-of-way easement to reach the new tower. The easement is asking to cross County property owned by the Sublette County Museum Board just to the south of the Sublette County Historical Society property of the Museum of the Mountain Man. Union is requesting an easement to access along the EAST side of the south storage shed building along the fence line. The proposal also includes burying an underground power line along the easement.
Late last year, the Sublette County Historical Society went to great lengths to get public input on a proposal by Verizon Wireless to put up a cell tower on the grounds of the Museum of the Mountain Man. Their proposal was modified to disguise the cell tower as a monopine tree tower with the equipment building at the base made to look like an old trapper’s log cabin, surrounded by a fence matching what is presently in place around the south compound. The SCHS held two public meetings and spent weeks gathering public input on the proposal, which was ultimately approved by the SCHS Board of Directors. The public again had an opportunity for public input at the Town of Pinedale Planning & Zoning hearing on the height variance, and again at the Pinedale Town Council meeting for final approval of the height variance request. In areas where visual appearance or location of too many towers in close proximity are a concern of the public, the FCC has the authority to ask companies to co-locate their equipment onto a single tower. With no public input process required in this building permit request, it is unlikely the co-locate option to minimize the number of towers next to the Museum would have to be considered.
The Commissioners will consider the Union cell tower easement request across the Museum Board property at their regular board meeting in Pinedale on Tuesday, April 19th. The time slot for the topic on the agenda is at 1:30PM. This appears to be the public’s only opportunity to give input on the proposals of the easement and the cell tower next to the Museum of the Mountain Man
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