The future need for an additional cell phone tower for the county was debated at the meeting of the Bradley County Commission on Monday. A small piece of property that adjoins Emerald Hills, a new subdivision of upscale homes, is owned by Bradley County. It is not part of the subdivision nor is it in the city of Cleveland, the deputy coordinator for auxiliary Community Services told the board of commissioners. This property is the in the county and, because of the terrain of the surrounding area with hills and valleys, it would be the best location to construct a new cell phone tower if one is ever needed because it is one of the highest elevations in the county.
The commission recently voted to sell the property. The deputy coordinator asked that the commission reconsider the sale, and sit on it, in case expanding cell tower capacity is needed in the future. The sale price of the property is $852. He asked what would prevent the person who buys it from leasing it to a cell tower company.
The issue for most of the commissioners was that Troy Spence, the director of Emergency Management for Bradley County, has said that there are plans to update the existing tower on Johnson Boulevard and that should cover Bradley County for the next 20-30 years, said Commissioner Johnny Mull. Commissioner Dan Rawls said it would be different if a need was foreseen in the coming five to 10 years, but Mr. Spence led the commissioners to believe there was not a necessity for this. The lot is also landlocked, with no access to it.
Commissioner Charlotte Peak who is a developer, said putting infrastructure in place for a subdivision is very expensive and that a cell tower would hurt property values in the immediate area. She said there is no way a new house would be built next door to a 200-foot cell tower. She suggested following through with the sale but putting a restriction on the deed stipulating that no cell tower can ever be put on it.
Commissioner Bill Winters asked for the matter to be put on the agenda for more discussion and a vote at the commission meeting next week. He said $852 is a laughable amount, and he would rather hold onto it to see what the future holds.
The commission will also decide how to proceed with a mistake that was caused by the county’s street department. There is no consistent measurement of right-of-ways on the roads throughout Bradley County. In 1957, the size of the right-of-way on New Hope Road where it intersects Bates Pike was designated to be 30 feet and was documented as such on the county’s “road list.” The right-of-way was changed to 40 feet in 1997, but the change was never documented. A resident who lives on the road built a wall on his property using the measurement listed on the road list, said Commissioner Howard Thompson.
The road department required that it be torn down, which caused a loss of $2,500 for the homeowner. The change to 40 feet was not made on the county road list until the discrepancy was caught in 2016. Commissioner Thompson suggested reimbursing the man for the money he lost.
Commissioner Dan Rawls said that the road department had told the man that the wall was in violation as it was being built and said the owner should have ceased construction and either he or Commissioner Thompson should have contacted the road department at that time. Commissioner Rawls said if a driver had hit the wall, the county would be held liable and that it would have set a precedent if allowed to stand. He should have asked, rather than continue building, said Commissioner Rawls, and said no reimbursement should be made.
The next meeting of the Bradley County Commission will take place Monday, June 20, at noon. At that time budget hearings will take place. This will be the last chance to make changes to the fiscal year 2016-2017 budget, said County Mayor D. Gary Davis.