A 110-foot tower that sits near the door of the village’s police department could be replaced with a 199-foot (to the tip of the antenna) high, eight feet wide one, if Oakland County has its way.
The proposed tower is part of an upgrading project that will improve the emergency services communication system through the county.
Lake Orion Village Council members on Nov. 8 expressed displeasure over the size of the new tower.
‘It will stick out like a sore thumb,? councilman Douglas Dendel said.
The commercial tower located at the Ehman Center on Elizabeth Street is 180-feet high.
Village attorney Gary Dovre said the tower is exempt from any village ordinance that applies to heights of towers because it provides ‘essential services.?
‘I see this as a distraction to the immediate surrounding area. I don’t want to see this at our back door,? councilman Ken Van Portfliet said. He also believes the tower could hinder the village’s chances of receiving historical designation.
According to Patricia Coates of Oakland County, improving the emergency system has been an ongoing project for five years.
LO Police Chief Jerry Narsh is in favor of constructing the tower.
‘This system offers the village police department access to instant radio communications with all other county police departments. It provides a state of the art radio system, at no cost to the village, to replace our aging radio communication,? he said.
Coates said the system will have 36 tower sites throughout the county. Nearby sites include one in Orion Oaks County Park, one in Oxford Township, one in Addison Township, two in Brandon Township and one at the landfill on Brown Road (Auburn Hills).
‘We’re still trying to locate one in Oakland Township,? she added.
‘I don’t buy why it has to be back here. There’s got to be another place,? Van Portfliet said.
Coates said the country did investigate commercial tower sites in the area, but didn’t find any that were adequate to give the village the proper coverage.
‘Height is also important to coverage. Lowering the tower would diminish that (coverage),? Coates said. ‘You get better coverage the closer you are to dispatch.?
She added that numerous other county towers are located near dispatch centers.
According to Coates, placement of the towers is important to coverage as far as the whole network is concerned.
‘Moving it would impact others around it. We also looked at topography. It’s important. The topography is challenging around the village,? she added.
‘If we don’t accept this, what’s the next step?? Van Porfliet asked Coates.
‘There’s no other step. We don’t have money to buy any land,? she said. ‘If this is delayed, it will delay all the radio systems in the county.?
According to Coates, if the county had to find another spot, new approvals would have to be sought with the Federal Communications Commission and the Michigan State Historic Preservation Officer.
She said the county had come to an agreement with Michigan’s SHPO because the county was only replacing an existing one rather than building a new one.
As part of the proposed agreement, the county would turn over ownership of the tower to the village and pay the village ‘rent? of $1 annually.
The county has agreed to put fencing around the tower. Arborvitae would be planted around the tower.
Coates said one pine tree would have to be taken out, but would be replaced.
Council members decided they needed to conduct a public hearing on Nov. 22 to get input from residents before making any decision on construction of the new tower.
They also will have village engineers investigate to see if there are other appropriate spots where the tower could be built.