ORD-2006-105 - Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation (PEMC) Planned Development (PD-OI) and Special Use Permit, Class A

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1 -14 Renee Price: Is it the County Commissioners who determine whether or not they have met the definition of a public need? Because it's going -to be referred to the Planning Board. Geof Gledhill: The County Commissioners in a Class A Special Use Permits will make all of the findings. The Planning Board will make recommendations as to the findings. Renee Price: I was just wondering, because it seems like it is a public .meeting, but this is the wrong process. Craig Benedict: I. can explain the process. The open verbal forum is tonight. Written testimony can still occur between tonight's meeting and be submitted to the. Planning Board as further testimony to address the issues that the County Attorney brought up concerning issues of testimony regarding public necessity, or if not, maintenance of property values. So all of that information is still open to be submitted in writing, though, prior to the Planning Board hearing it, or any other testimony that may come forward. The Administration recommendation here is for the Commissioners to refer this back to the Planning Board to be returned back to the Board of County Commissioners no sooner than December 4 -which means the timeline we had put in this package was to have it on the agenda for the December 4, 2006 meeting. Commissioner Gordon: I would like to have our consultant come up and be sworn in and would like to ask him a couple of questions. Lawrence Monroe (Rusty) was sworn in. Commissioner Gordon: I just wanted to retake up some of the questions that Planning Board member Wagner asked about the effects on migratory birds and also the effects on the community population in the vicinity of such a tower. Rusty Monroe: One of.the recommendations that our company made as a recommended condition was for the lighting that will be on this tower to be shielded. People are aware Of the fact that the lighting only has to be seen from above or by airplanes, and there are a couple of different ways of doing it. We've recommended that all lighting on this tower be shielded, in large part because of that issue to reduce the attractiveness as well as, very candidly, to reduce the nuisance factor of what is called .ground scatter effect of the lighting. The report that was submitted on the effects of aviary wildlife is negative or negligible. We have no concerns, and the report had raised no'concems. We've been able to find no experts in the field who know evidence of any concern. It would be much more of a concern if there were guide wires attached. That's primarily where the biggest danger to aviary wildlife comes from are the guide wires on guide towers. Commissioner Gordon: What about the effect on the population, the question of the emissions and the effects on the human population with this proposal? Rusty Monroe: We have to be very careful when it comes to radio frequency emissions. The FCC has effectively preempted that entire area and said that no one may enforce those other than the FCC, nor may anyone establish any different standards than the FCC has. We could argue all day long whether those are adequate or not, but they are the law at this point. However, local government has been charged with the authority, if you will, to verify compliance with those regulations prior to the establishment at any time during the operation of it. One of the recommended conditions in this is that it be regularly tested for emissions. That having been said, I will tell you that the FCC also has a policy that any facility such as this, or a cellular facility, or a paging facility, or any of the other services that use radio frequency, if it is located on a tower and it is more than 10 meters above the ground, it is deemed what is called categorically excluded. We may or may not agree with that, but they're saying, by definition that it is safe and - . presents no danger to the public. The numbers are such that the RF emissions for something such as this facility at the height that Piedmont Electric is proposing to attach,