Agenda - 08-31-2006-3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Jacobs said that Commissioner Foushee has not had the opportunity to know this information of the goals and objectives, and he sees this as a refresher for some of them and new to Commissioner Foushee, Commissioner Foushee said that she looked at this in a different way, and she put the goals within the context of the priorities. She said that she looked at this as an opportunity to determine how the priorities are going to be incorporated in the budget. She said that she is thinking about where these priorities are and how they get into next year's budget and she is interested in what they are going to fund. Commissioner Carey said that he was hoping that this year that the Manager and the staff were going to take certain priorities and come up with a plan and the estimated costs of getting them done. He was worried about staff time and he wants to start with the priorities. Chair Jacobs said that he just wants to flag goals. For example, under long Range and Current Planning, there is a Telecommunications Towers goal, which says, "since the new ordinance went into effect, there have been no towers proposed that would be a class A special use permit, but there have been eight class B special use permits." He said that this brings to mind where they are with the consultant to do the telecommunications siting plan. Chair Jacobs wanted to know if this is a satisfactory system if everyone is coming in with class B special use permits so that they do not have to deal with the County Commissioners. He asked if it was a priority to fund the telecommunications study and what the cost would be. He said that a 350- foot tower was being proposed by Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation, Craig Benedict said that the telecommunications goal had two parts and one was to modify the ordinance to have heightened regulations and the other part was to develop a master plan on how to limit the total amount of towers and promote co-location. To do that, they could get a consultant. A consultant has helped the County to review the private sector towers that have come in. They are suggesting hiring the same consultant to represent the County to help them identify new locations. He said that a consultant could come in and receive a percentage of the revenue stream that would come in from the telecommunication providers, or they could work on an hourly basis ($150-200/hour). He said that Piedmont Electric does want to put up a 350-foot tower and remove the 150-foot tower they have off of NC 86, just north of Stanback Middle School. The County and the State have been in communication with them to see if there are other uses for the tower, such as public safety. Chair Jacobs asked about the frequency of class B special use permits. Craig Benedict said that originally the telecommunications ordinance said that a tower could go between 150 feet and 200 feet without a class A special use permit if three or four providers were put on the same tower. If they went over 200 feet, it would be a class A and come in front of the County Commissioners.. At some point, the ordinance was changed to say that a 150-foot tower would be class A. There was a negative backlash, where instead of promoting co-location on new towers, applicants would go with a 149-foot tower and maybe put one or two extra spaces on the tower. The positive is that there have been 20 co-locations on towers that have been approved previously at the 150-foot to 300-foot range. Chair .Jacobs said that in the northern part of the County, there is no cell phone service. He said that if there is a plan, then the Board can give the go ahead on some towers on locations where they are needed. This has not been done. Craig Benedict said that what they have left a placeholder in the ordinance for a Master Telecommunications Plan. Chair Jacobs asked where the plan was and Craig Benedict said that he has the plan and he can bring it forward,. Commissioner Carey said that he remembers having discussions about the plan and he also remembers looking at desirable places in the County for towers. There was a discussion about whether the County should be in the position of competing with private landowners for the location of the tower. He did not realize that the plan was never adopted.