Cell tower gets approval

Another cell tower is going up in southwestern Jay County.

Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special use request and variance request Thursday from Pyramid Network Services to install a tower just northeast of Paradise Point Campground.

John Marcelletti, project manager with Pyramid Network Services of East Syracuse, New York, explained his company has been contracted by Verizon Wireless to coordinate building a new tower in Jefferson Township. APC Towers of Raleigh, North Carolina, will be constructing a 250-foot steel tower with a 5-foot lightning rod at EJB Farms’ county road 550 South property. The tower will be located on farm ground just north of a small wooded area, away from the road.

“Verizon determined that the area has a significant service gap that’s caused by insufficient infrastructure,” he said.

Although Verizon would look to add its services to an existing tower, Marcelletti said there are none available in the area, with the nearest about 3 miles west near Redkey. Referencing a propagation map, he later pointed out the tower in Redkey and a tower near Portland are at capacity, leading to slow reception for some users. (There’s another tower south along county road 850 North near Ridgeville.)

“You may be near a tower, but you may not have the best reception because the tower isn’t giving enough juice off,” he explained. “So, if they add the tower, they can reduce the capacity of those towers … to help extend the coverage throughout.”

Answering a question from board member Scott Hilfiker, Marcelletti explained connections are divided among towers as needed.

He noted the tower’s height was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. It will be lit at the top per federal guidelines, which dictate any tower taller than 200 feet must have lighting.

The tower is also being designed to accommodate three additional wireless carriers.

Addressing other questions from the board, Marcelletti explained the process for constructing a new service tower generally takes a few years. He initially reached out to EJB Farms about a year ago.

Pati McLaughlin of Jay/Portland Building and Planning noted Jay County’s zoning ordinance states any structure 100 feet or taller, other than a wind turbine, requires a variance request.

None of the neighboring property owners attended the meeting Thursday. Marcelletti  said the Nixons, who own property surrounding EJB Farms, have voiced support for the project. Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn said he spoke to Mike Timmerman, who lives near the planned location, and he told the board Timmerman was comfortable with it.

“He said, ‘There’s no problem with a tower, we need better signal out here,’” said Hemmelgarn.

Board members Marla Lutes, Steve Ford, Kaleb Hemmelgarn, Angela Paxson and Hilfiker approved the special use request and variance request.

Also on Thursday, McLaughlin informed board members about plans to host another meeting in September, saying she would let them know the exact date soon.