City Files for Injunction Against Tower

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Bolivar, MO, city officials have filed a petition for an injunction against Alltel, who is looking to build a 265-foot tower. The city is concerned about air traffic patterns around Bolivar Municipal Airport. The city attorney filed the injunction on September 3 in Polk County Circuit County. According to The Bolivar Herald-Free Press, the petition asks the court to grant a permanent injunction preventing Alltel Communications/Verizon Wireless from constructing a new cell tower taller than 175 feet. The FAA also recommended a tower height of 175 feet to reduce the risk to air traffic coming into and leaving the airport. The tower company agreed to the lower height, but the city still filed the injunction as “a potential safeguard against any possible future changes to the project” (Herald-Free Press).

City Administrator Darin Chappell wouldn’t give specifics, but noted that other municipalities have filed injunctions to ensure that companies keep their towers at the agreed upon height. “Not speaking to this case specifically, but for municipalities that don’t have building codes they can enforce but that affect properties such as airports, this is something like an insurance policy,” Chappell said. “It puts in writing in a court document what has been established as the accepted terms for something being built” (Herald-Free Press). The Missouri Pilots Association met last month to discuss the tower and voiced concerns about how an obstruction could impact Service Oriented Aviation Readiness.  Alltel must respond to the injunction on October 3.

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