Supervisors say hello to four cellular towers

PALMYRA — The Fluvanna Board of Supervisors approved four cellular towers in the Route 6 corridor through the southern portion of the county.

Also on Nov. 20, the board extended a lease with U.S. Cellular to rent land space at the Palmyra Fire Station.

Three of the four towers are leased by AT&T Mobility and will be built by Clear Signal Towers.

The first tower approved is near the Hardware River, south of Route 6. The tower is approved for 175 feet. The height was limited because of the nearby Thistle Gate Vineyard had reservations about a neighboring property having a 195-foot tower. The two landowners agreed to 175 feet with a ground vegetation barrier for the fence and service road.

The other two approved towers for CST include one in Weber City and one in Cohasset. Both are approved for a height of 195 feet.

Weber City is located on Route 15 between Fork Union and Bremo Bluff. The old drive-in movie theatre is located in the Weber City area but the tower is not connected to the drive-in. The Cohasset location is off of Mountain Hill Road (State Route 650), just south of Route 6. Mountain Hill Road is 1.2 miles from the Fluvanna County trash convenience center.

The Cohasset and Weber City towers are approximately four miles from each other. Cellular signals travel about two miles in that area of the county because of typography. The two towers work together to give service for eight miles. There will need to be a fourth tower in the Kidds Store area to complete the AT&T network from the Weber City tower to Hardware River tower.

The fourth tower approved is being built by National Communication Towers. The location is in Cunningham, north of Route 6 and four miles from the already approved, but not yet built, tower on the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The tower will be directly across from Fluvanna Baptist Church and Rosewood Manor subdivision. An NST review shows the Rock Fish Creek tower, while it will work in connection with the VFW location, will also need another tower on the county owned landfill along with a tower on the Weber City water tank. Another, small tower on county owned property in Bremo Bluff could complete the network. Only two towers of this proposed network are approved along with the Weber City water tank location.

All four towers can hold four company antennas. All four towers were approved 4-0 with Shaun Kenney absent because of illness.

The U.S. Cellular lease renewal for the Palmyra Fire Station renews a lease that expired on May 19 and was extended for a seven months while a longterm renewal was negotiated. The lease requires U.S. Cellular to pay $21,600 per year ($1,800 per month) with three percent annual increases beginning on March 1, 2013.

The lease is for seven years, nine months and 11 days and backdated to May 19. It will automatically renew for two five-year terms unless terminated. The county uses floor space in the U.S. Cellular equipment shelter for the county’s communication facilities.

U.S. Cellular also leases attanna space on the Weber City water tower. The lease renewal was approved with a 5-0 vote.