Work on a controversial public safety radio tower was halted. Now the public will have its say
Two months after Manatee County Commissioners stopped construction of a 185-foot public safety radio tower along Prospect Road, county officials have scheduled a community meeting to discuss the tower with nearby residents.
Commissioners halted work May 22 after residents complained they were blindsided by the $1 million project.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 26 at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 7461 Prospect Road, which is catty-corner from the tower site.
“The new Suncoast Regional Communications Network being constructed in Manatee and Sarasota counties will give police, paramedics, firefighters and other first responders a far more reliable way to communicate during emergencies each day,” Manatee County said in a press release announcing the community meeting.
In Manatee County seven older radio towers are being used for the new system. New towers are being constructed at three new locations: near the Fort Hamer Bridge, on Cortez Road and along Prospect Road. Commissioners have directed county staff to research alternative locations.
Commissioners voted 6-1 to halt the project, which would eliminate communications dead spots, after they learned residents had not been informed in advance of the project.
“I’m really disappointed but not surprised by what’s going on,” Commissioner Betsy Benac said in May. “I don’t say this very often, but I think this government dropped the ball.”
Residents have launched a petition drive and website called movethetower.com in an effort to relocate the tower.
“Residents are at a loss as to why this current site was even chosen considering it is surrounded by densely populated residential neighborhoods, more homes being built, nearly touching Kinnan Elementary School, a day care center and on property only designated for Parks and Recreation, not a 180-foot radio tower,” Gary Adams, the Crescent Lakes subdivision resident living closest to the tower site, said in a letter posted on the petition website.
“What is most appalling is that the county did not honor their own land development code laws and hold a public hearing before proceeding with the development of this project. Although the public hearing process takes more time than you may want to spend, our residents have a lawful right to have their voices heard. We know that this secrecy was not a mistake, but a deliberate act to squelch the voices of our community,” Adams wrote.
Several days after the land clearing had started, those living within 500 feet received a notice announcing the installation of the tower. There would also be a 60-foot building with a generator inside that would run once a week for 30-45 minutes, according to the resident website.
Paul Alexander, Manatee County’s information technology director, is scheduled to discuss the radio project and the research that went into selecting the site during the July 26 meeting.
“The Prospect Road location was selected to ensure the communications network covers the entire region and eliminates areas where emergency radio coverage was unreliable in the past. Alexander will also talk about the tower’s engineering, its environmental impact and the significance of the Prospect Road site,” the county press release said.
Alexander has previously said that a more-ideal location would have been at the county’s new transit station, but that it was unacceptable because it would have been in the flight path of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.
This story was originally published July 17, 2018 at 12:39 PM.