MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Mountain View County’s municipal planning commission (MPC) has approved Xplore Inc.'s $250,000, 45-metre high communication tower in the Eagle Hill district.
The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled commission meeting. The commission is made up of county councillors and appointed public members and is the county's development approving authority.
The commission approved the development permit for the tower, which will be located on the north side of Township Road (Twp. Rd.) 340 about one kilometre east of Range Road (Rge. Rd.) 40, just east of the Eagle Hill Memorial Community Centre at SW 6-34-3-5.
The proposed installation will be a 45-metre, self-support steel lattice radio communications tower with supporting equipment cabinets at ground level, all contained within a 20 metre by 20 metre compound and secured with a chain-link fence and locked gate.
“The proposed access to the site is a lease road leading to oil and gas infrastructure on the subject property, and on the property adjacent to the east,” administration said in a briefing note to the commission. “
“As such, a condition is included that any necessary approvals from the respective leaseholder shall be obtained and adhered to.”
A road use agreement is required only for the construction phase of the tower to ensure that municipal infrastructure is repaired in a timely manner should damage occur from hauling materials and equipment to and from the site, members heard.
“The applicant investigated co-location opportunities within a 17 kilometre radius of the proposed tower site. It was determined that all of the sites examined were non-viable alternatives to a second structure due to inadequate height and/or adequate proximity to the specific area needed to meeting coverage objectives.”
In all, 48 adjacent landowners were circulated as part of the application, with one letter of support received, members heard.
The approval comes with a number of conditions, including that the “tower will be engineered to accommodate future co-location with additional carriers and to minimize any potential negative effects on the adjacent land or uses.”
