Minutes - Planning Commission - 04/01/1997 - Public Hearing @ 10:12

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Tom Alexander, representing American Portable Telecom, stated that he is present to follow through with what he has accomplished so far with the Planning Commission and the proposed ordinance. Community Development Intern Skoog stated that, in addition to the recommended changes to the ordinance listed in the case cover sheet, he has several other previous issues raised by Mr. Tom Alexander that City staffneeds a final determination on by the Planning Commission. The first one is Section 9.15.03 (b) (1). Mr. Skoog stated that Mr. Alexander is requesting that Item (b) (1) be amended to read as follows "Church sites, when integrated with, or designed as steeples or bell towers, provided the tower complies with FAA standards;" Mr. Skoog then referred to Section 9.15.04 (b) (1) through (8) and stated that Mr. Alexander is of the opinion that this section really consists of issues that are subject to a lease agreement between the City and the user and should not be listed as part of the ordinance. Ms. Frolik stated that she is of the opinion that these types of items should be kept in the ordinance to serve as examples of criteria to be taken into consideration when drafting a lease agreement. Mr. Skoog and Mr. Alexander then referred to Section 9.15.04, (c) (1) (iv) and recommended that the phrase "except for radio emissions" be eliminated. The Commission agreed to remove this phrase. Mr. Skoog and Mr. Alexander now moved on to Section 9.15.05 (a) (2) and (3). Mr. Alexander requested elimination of reference to licensed engineers because radio frequency engineers are not licensed in the State of Minnesota. Chairperson Bawden stated that he is aware they are not licensed by the State of Minnesota and the ordinance does not say they have to be licensed by the State of Minnesota, it just says licensed - and it is the federal government that does the licensing. Mr. Alexander stated that he is not convinced that even the FCC licenses radio frequency engineers and that the FCC licenses radio operators but not necessarily radio frequency engineers. Chairperson Bawden stated that he does not think this language should be a significant issue. The FCC enforces this and if a company is going to hire people to work on their radio frequency equipment, they should be hiring qualified people and those people should have a license. The consensus was that 9.15.05 (a) (2) will read as follows: "The planned equipment would cause interference materially impacting the usability of other existing or planned equipment at the tower or building as documented by a qualified professional and the interference cannot be prevented at a reasonable cost". The consensus was that 9.15.05 (a) (3) would read as follows: "existing or approved towers and buildings within the search radius cannot accommodate the planned equipment at a height necessary to function reasonably as documented by a professional Planning Commission/Public Hearing/Tower/April 1, 1997 Page 2 of 4