AT&T Gets Grilled By City About Not Co-Locating

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AT&T is pushing to build a 250-foot tower to improve service, but county leaders recently delayed the permit vote, reported the Springfield News-Leader. Last month, the Springfield (MO) Planning and Zoning board begrudgingly approved the plans amid residents’ concerns. Neighbors worry about the safety of the tower, impact on scenery, and decreased property values. Questions also arose over why AT&T doesn’t lease space on an existing tower, per the News-Leader.

The owner of a nearby tower hired an engineer to review whether a new tower would offer any advantage over the existing antenna and concluded it wouldn’t. Attorney Rick Muenks presented this information to the Green County commissioners. 

The engineer’s report stated, “… the proposed site provides comparable coverage to the Willard, MO area due to its close proximity to the existing site. For wireless operators with antennas mounted on the existing site, the installation of additional antennas on the proposed site would be considered to be an ‘overbuild’ or impractical given the coverage overlap.”

AT&T has not contacted the tower owner about leasing space, according to the News-Leader. Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon added that recent changes to state law stripped the county’s ability to require telecommunications providers to provide data justifying new towers. With that, commissioners voted to table the matter until the November 12 meeting.

October 10, 2019

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