Agenda - Council - 01/08/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Trites Rolle asked how far apart the towers are in order to get the coverage T- Mobile wants to achieve. Mr. Edwards explained that photo streaming, video, and PDA's require a certain amount of bandwidth for each tower, which creates situations where they need more towers or sites in an area. Mr. Edwards stated that with the high number of uses the coverage area actually shrinks down. Commissioner Cleveland asked what the forecast is for future tower plans. Mr. Edwards replied it will depend a lot on how the City grows. In the northeast area of the City there is a new water tower in Elk River and a chain of Xce1 towers that may be able to be utilized. Commissioner Brauer commented that essentially this is an evolving market in which T-Mobile is looking to provide higher broadband service. . . Commissioner Brauer asked how many towers it would likely take to cover Ramsey ten years in the future; . Mr. Edwards replied that depends on the number of residents and the uses cell phones will have at that time. Commissioner VanScoy asked if there are any alternatives that have been looked at outside of the park in this area that would be eligible for a tower. Associate Planner DaInes replied about 1 Y2 years ago they started to fIrst look at the alternatives for both towers; the one that would be relocated and this circle of gap in coverage. They looked at a map and went over the possible scenarios. There may be other opportunities if a variance to the 10 required acres would be considered, but because the City requires ten acres and prefers the property to be city-owned, Alpine Park was the most obvious location. Commissioner Van Scoy asked if it would be a possibility to work with Waste Management to locate the tower across the fence and get it out of the park but in the same general area. City Engineer Jankowski explained Waste Management no longer controls the landfill; it is controlled by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and they are very restrictive with what happens there. . He is certain MPCA would not want the tower located anywhere near where the active fIll is. Commissioner Van Scoy noted the Waste Management site would be more of an industrial use. He asked if it is a viable option as an alternative location. Civil Engineer n Linton indicated the MPCA will not allow anything to be located on the slope of the landfIll. Since the whole north slope of the landfill comes up to the fence this would not be an option. Mr. Fountain asked if elevation is a primary function of service. -259-