Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tower backers eager for August decision

Proponents of 90-foot cell tower say their plan meets federal law


By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer

Jen Campbell, co-owner of Ketchum-based Idaho Tower Co., tells a crowd gathered at a meeting the company sponsored last winter why she believes the Sawtooth National Forest should approve a plan to construct a 90-foot cell tower near Galena Summit. The forest has said it will have a final decision by August. Photo by David N. Seelig

The end of the line for the years-old drama that's pitted cellular tower interests against those who would prefer to keep Galena Summit free from such structures has been delayed—again.

Officials with the Sawtooth National Forest now say they'll release their final decision on a Ketchum company's bid to construct a 90-foot self-supporting cellular tower by some time this August. Backers of the proposed tower say its camouflaged designed will make it blend in with surrounding trees, though it will clear the nearby forest canopy by about 40 feet.

Jen Campbell, who owns Idaho Tower Co. with her husband, John Campbell, said Wednesday that they are expecting the Sawtooth National Forest to respond to the legal issues they've raised. The Campbells say federal law supports the project.

"We have followed their own codes and regulations," she said.

After repeatedly delaying a decision on the application for the site about 25 miles northwest of Ketchum, Sawtooth National Forest officials are now saying they'll resolve the matter sometime next month. Earlier this year, forest officials had predicted that a decision would be forthcoming by April, but then pushed the matter back to May and then June.

In a July 1 letter to Idaho Tower Co., Sawtooth National Forest Supervisor Jane Kollmeyer said a final environmental assessment on the project will likely be released in August. The forest received more than 300 comments in the latest public comment period, Kollmeyer said.

Most of the comments focused on safety issues related to the proposed tower, scenic issues related to the proposed location on Galena Summit, and whether or not the federal law that established the 756,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area permits construction of the tower.

Idaho Tower Co. has worked for nearly a decade on a plan to erect the tower and an equipment building just north of where state Highway 75 crosses 8,701-foot Galena Summit. Last July, Kollmeyer denied the proposed facility, citing the "substantial impairment" it would produce along the scenic ridge. Her decision was later overturned on procedural grounds.

More recently, the plan and the repeated delays have garnered the attention of at least two political heavyweights in Idaho. Last December, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter—a Republican—wrote Kollmeyer to encourage her to reverse her decision. That letter was followed by a plea from former Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus—a Democrat who played a key role in the establishment of the SNRA back in 1972—to keep the scenic divide overlooking several of the state's highest ranges free from cell towers.

A better alternative would be to construct a series of emergency call boxes along the winding route, Andrus said during an interview with the Idaho Mountain Express last winter. He noted that the Idaho Transportation Department has completed a similar project on a remote stretch of U.S. Highway 12 along the Lochsa River.

More recently, interest in the Galena Summit issue has even caught the attention of the nation's wireless communications industry. An article in the April issue of AGL Magazine, an industry publication, devoted seven pages to the issue and noted the wide gulf in opinion among the state's political leaders.

The article pays significant attention to the issues of public safety, which backers of the tower have cited as a key reason to approve the plan.

Jason Kauffman: jkauffman@mtexpress.com




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.