Angelica Ramos
Contributing Writer
MONTGOMERY COUNTY- The Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance for a new telecommunications tower to be built off of Childress Road and Piney Woods Road.
A special use permit was requested by Jonathan Yates, from Arcola Towers, for special use of a part of Reginald L. Duncan’s land to build a 197-foot monopole telecommunications tower. Duncan’s land is currently zoned for agricultural use. A monopole for telecommunications purposes is a singular, most commonly metal, tower or pole that is anchored to the ground that typically has triangular shaped satellites on the top for telecommunications reception. According to multiple telecommunications sources, monopoles tend to be some of the easier telecommunications towers to erect and take up less space than others. The tower will also include a two-foot lightning rod for protection. The tower is proposed to be used by Verizon and at least three other service providers, according Yates.
“This tower,” Yates said, “FAA has approved it. I think we’re about 13.4 nautical miles from Virginia Tech and Montgomery Executive Airport, so we’re fine with the FAA. They met another important finding; we don’t have to put lights on it, so at the end of the day, we’ll have a facility that provides voice, broadband, access to 911 first responders, fire, police, EMS, access to citizen alerts when you want to warn folks that somethings coming. But, we will not produce any noise, odor, light, fumes, or glare. We’re adding infrastructure and for folks out that way, it’s about time.”
Construction on the site will begin around October or November of this year once permits and everything are approved. The tower would potentially have EMS equipment located on it to help provide service in this area which is more rural. The Board of Supervisors approved this during their Aug. 12, 2024 meeting.
