FCC Orders Land Owners to Dismantle Abandoned FM Tower

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Calling it a menace to aviation, the FCC ordered landowners in Pine Bluff, AR to dismantle a former FM tower. The FAA, too, declared the structure a hazard because it’s unlit and unmarked.

In 1990, Lee Ann Kleider, the landowners’ predecessor-in-interest, granted an easement to Colon Johnston that enabled him to build the tower after obtaining Commission and FAA approvals. Johnston was required to pay $12,000 per year to the landowner.

On Friday, the FCC said it looks like Johnston built the 374-ft AGL tower when he acquired an unbuilt CP for a new FM for the area. The FCC assigned the call letters KPBQ-FM. In 1993, Johnston sold the station to Pine Bluff Radio, Inc., which subsequently sold it to SEARK Radio, Inc. in 1997. 

In 1998, SEARK registered the tower with the FCC, and it was designated as ASR 1042873. It’s required to have a steady-burning obstruction light at the top and flashing lights at specified heights.

In 2003, SEARK sold the station and tower to M.R.S. Ventures, Inc., however that owner didn’t notify the FCC of the sale and the tower remains registered to SEARK in the FCC’s ASR database. In 2011, MRS notified the Media Bureau that several of its stations, including KPBQ-FM, had been off the air for more than a year and their licenses expired. Neither SEARK nor MRS remain in existence, according to the FCC and no other broadcasters are using it.

The land is now owned by Lora Lynn Gaither, Edward Wilkerson, and Allen Wilkerson, according to property records of Jefferson County, AR. Gaither told the FCC she was never paid for the easement and the local electric company cut off the tower’s power in 2005. She would like the tower dismantled too, since it’s near her home.

The FCC said it’s been receiving complaints about the unlit tower since 2005. The FAA determined it was abandoned a year ago and recommended the FCC “take appropriate action” to get it dismantled.

The FCC said in its order the tower appears abandoned and the agency has no owner of record. It can’t determine who has legal title, but it does have the power to order it be razed. “Because unlit antenna structures pose a significant safety hazard to aviators, their passengers, and the general public, it is important that we identify parties against whom section 303(q) can be invoked to compel the dismantlement of this long-abandoned tower,” said the agency in its decision.

The FCC ordered the landowners to dismantle the structure within 90 days. 

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

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