Metamora gives the nod to tower

METAMORA — The village offices in Metamora were crowded once again Monday night, when council members reconvened to consider variances that would allow construction of a tower in the village. After hearing again from residents and officials, the village council unanimously approved the variances, putting in place the last key piece of the puzzle for the new digital E-911 system Lapeer County Central Dispatch is building.

“It was a good thing,” said Central Dispatch director Vic Martin. “It’s going to be a win-win for the whole county, not just Metamora, but the whole county.”

Martin, along with Central Dispatch systems administrator Jeff Satkowski and representatives of Motorola attended the meeting to address any questions. They were flanked by strong support from fire and police officials including Metamora Township fire chief and District 5 county commissioner Dave Eady, Metamora Township police chief Dave Mallett and Hadley Township fire chief Kurt Nass.

“Fire and police came together on this and really helped out,” said Martin.

Council members, who for months previous had developed and approved agreements for the construction of the tower, had tabled the variance issue last month when residents complained about the appearance of a tower in the village. It is slated for construction on municipal property near the sewer lagoons.

Although some residents still expressed concerns about appearance, on Monday, council members ultimately voted to go ahead and grant the variances that were the only thing holding up implementation of the plan they had already signed onto. Member Larry Morris was absent, but the six council members present voted unanimously.

It was a sigh of relief for officials.

“The clock is ticking,” said systems administrator Satkowski. Officials are keenly aware of the vagaries of the aging analog system currently in use and the potential for critical downtime in the event of equipment failures.

“I feel great,” said Satkowski on Tuesday. “I’m very happy that the Metamora council voted yes to put the tower there and bring coverage to the whole area.”

Satkowski said that construction will start after a required NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) environmental assessment has been completed. That’s likely to take another week or so. Then, construction will begin with the preparation of the foundation.

When complete, the tower will reach 389 feet into the air, in conformance to Federal Aviation Administration requirements and to coverage specifications for the Central Dispatch system of close to 95 percent.

Satkowski said the construction schedule hinges on the utility company, since the tower will not go up until power is at the site to provide a light at the top.

The Metamora tower gives Central Dispatch some closure on this phase of the project.

“The biggest hurdle we had was obtaining locations,” said Martin. And he noted, “We’re savings the taxpayers a lot of money.” That’s because the single tower in Metamora is able to provide sufficient coverage in the south end of the county, for which officials originally thought two towers would be needed.

The system will utilize six voice radio and paging towers, and another two just for paging. Satkowski said that all of the sites for the new system are now locked in.

The only remaining tower to go up will be in North Branch. After it was determined that the North Branch village water tower would not be available to the project, Central Dispatch was able to ink an agreement with North Branch Area Schools. The 150-foot tower will be located on school property, also affording potential for the school system to locate equipment there in the future if desired.

As the project proceeds, Satkowski foresees going online in test and tweak mode with the new system in August. The switch to the new system won’t actually happen until the spring of 2013, with a final sign-off in June.