Is there any cellphone user in Anna Maria who hasn’t had a call dropped or been forced to go outside to make or receive a cellphone call?
Those people might want to start planning a celebration for late-March, according to Kevin Barile of Florida Tower Partners LLC.
That’s the estimated date FTP will complete the cell tower at city hall following receipt Dec. 4 of a conditional-use permit allowing construction to begin.
The 163-foot tower will be on the southeast corner of the city hall property, with a base high enough to allow parking underneath.
Barile and his company began its application to build a cell tower in Anna Maria in February 2013.
But not all residents of the city were pleased with the location.
Geoffrey Sugden resides at 212 Spring Ave., in a home house to the cell tower location. He made a last-minute plea for commissioners to consider moving the tower away from his house, possibly to Anna Maria City Pier Park.
He is concerned that if the tower collapsed, it would fall on his house, which is about 60 feet from the tower base. He said he’d like another 60 feet of distance between the two structures.
Unfortunately, said Commission Chair Chuck Webb, “it’s a bit late in the game to change the location again.”
Kevin Barile of FTP said any change to the proposed location would “put us back to square one,” and set construction back about 18 months. He noted the tower location has been moved several times since FTP began designs nearly two years ago. Commissioners have approved the location, as well as the site plan that was presented in March.
To relocate the tower, new applications for the numerous required state and federal permits would be needed, as well as a new engineering study and site plan, Barile said.
However, Commissioner Dale Woodland sided with Sugden and said the commission should re-locate the tower.
Consulting engineer Arthur Peters said the tower is engineered to withstand winds up to 127 mph, with an additional safety factor to withstand winds up to 160 mph. It would take a weather event that occurs maybe once every 200 years to fell the structure, he said.
According to the engineering report, Peters said the top section of the tower would break off first in a major wind event and fall within 36 feet of the base.
Peters said the engineering specifications meet the federal standards for tower fall zones.
Commissioner Nancy Yetter said she could understand why someone would not want the tower adjacent to his or her property, but objections should have been made earlier in the process.
“We’ve been discussing this location forever. We need to move forward,” she said.
Commissioner Doug Copeland said it was “typical Anna Maria to wait until the last minute and then say, ‘Oh my God, we can’t do this’”
City attorney Jim Dye weighed in on a possible new location, noting that federal law requires the local government to move as “quickly as possible” to have a cell tower built once the site plan has been approved.
A primary purpose of the federal law on cell towers is to ensure people have access to emergency services from just about anywhere, he said.
Commissioners approved the conditional-use permit for FTP to begin construction in a 4-1 vote. Woodland opposed the measure.
Barile said the tower could be operational by late-March.
Wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T have agreed to place relay equipment for cellphone service on the tower once it’s ready.
When the tower is operational, FTP has agreed to pay the city a one-time fee of $350,000. Additionally, the city will receive a monthly portion of the gross tower revenue.
Barile and city clerk Diane Percycoe have estimated the monthly payment will be about $2,500.
Anna Maria began discussing construction of a cell tower in 2002, when it paid wireless engineer Ted Kreines $60,000 to write a cell tower ordinance and plan.