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<br />so that they can be aware of it and look at it. My recollection is that this was the middle of the <br />day; as Commissioner Halkiotis said, he thought it was something else, a car dealership. Haw <br />is the public supposed to know any different? We need to look at our rules and regulations for <br />those and figure out a better way so people are alert to what's going on. I predict that when this <br />tower is built that people will say, "Wow, that's really tall, and why didn't I knave about this," and <br />all that. I'm not saying that Piedmont didn't comply, I am just saying that we need to revisit our <br />regulations to make sure that people are aware of what's happening. I remember when we <br />were talking about the Board of Adjustment having to deal with these issues, we were talking at <br />one time about providing a consultant or somebody else who could look into these issues <br />before going to the public. And I seem to think that that would be true of the Commissioners <br />too. We need to assist the public a little bit more in trying to understand what's happening, and <br />somebody knowledgeable that they can go to that will inform them of these technical aspects. <br />Commissioner Carey: I thought we would increase the pace if we could hire a <br />consultant to represent and ask questions. <br />Craig Benedict: We have a representative of the County here tonight, the Center far <br />Municipal Solutions, Mr. Rusty Monroe, is part of that process that the Board suggested a few <br />years ago. The fees from the Piedmont tower were partially given to pay for the consultant and <br />one of the criteria we have is that this is one of the only engineering solutions to locating the <br />tower. We have used the expertise of the Center far Municipal Solutions and their memo is in <br />the file here, on page 142-144 that says that it meets the standards of our land development <br />code. So we do have that type of expertise. We are further in the Telecommunications Master <br />Plan effort and we may use the same consultant with other monies that have been budgeted <br />this year to create our telecommunication network far other public safety purposes. I will pursue <br />that with the Interim County Manager. <br />Commissioner Carey: Will the consultant be available to our Planning Board as they <br />deliberate on this. <br />Craig Benedict: Yes. <br />Commissioner Gordon: Is the consultant going to be available to the Board? He <br />should be sworn in and we should be able to ask questions. <br />Chair Jacobs: I agree with Commissioner Gordon. I think that the consultant should <br />have been introduced at the very beginning, and we do not have any problem with Piedmont <br />Electric, but if we're doing the process, I think we need to know that our expert is here and that <br />he's available for questions. He or she may have comments about the application and can be <br />here as a resource and be identified as a resource to the Planning Board and to the Board of <br />Commissioners, not to discover it in the discussion. And also, I agree with Commissioner <br />Gordon that the fact that there are no citizens here may mean that nobody has any problems, or <br />it may mean that our notification policies are inadequate. And my guess is that it is probably a <br />combination of both, and that one small period of a balloon that was notified to people within <br />500 feet, especially for a tower of this height, may not be adequate notice to the public. <br />Renee Price Saunders: I had a question with regards to the applicant proposing a <br />tower for public safety. Does the Planning Board or does the County Commissioners have the <br />responsibility of deciding what is a public need, or is that the responsibility of the applicant. Is <br />that something that should be assumed? <br />Geaf Gledhill: It is the burden of the applicant to prove that it is a public necessity if <br />that's their intention, and if they do not prove that, and that finding can't be made, then it's the <br />burden of the applicant to prove the maintenance of property values in the absence of a public <br />necessity. <br />Renee Price: Is it the County Commissioners who determine whether or not they have <br />met the definition of a public need? Because it's going to be referred to the Planning Board. <br />Geof Gledhill: The County Commissioners in a Class A Special Use Permits will make <br />all of the findings. The Planning Board will make recommendations as to the findings. <br />