October 21, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Where will it be erected?
A new state funded tower is planned for the Liberty area to improve currently unreliable emergency radio communication largely because of the terrain at no cost to either the county or city governments.
The Liberty mayor and members of the town council held a public meeting Saturday morning to give residents a chance to learn more and speak out about the 300 foot Tennessee Advanced Communication Network (TACN) tower which is planned at the new Liberty Fire Station on property jointly owned by both the towns of Liberty and Dowelltown and under a long term lease with the county for use by the fire department and EMS.
Although county officials say this particular site is not in the actual city limits of either Liberty or Dowelltown and not subject to city ordinances or restrictions, they would like to have the blessing of both city governments to move forward with this project. The Dowelltown Mayor and Aldermen have reportedly already met and given their approval. The Liberty Mayor and Aldermen will meet in regular monthly session Monday night, November 4 to act on the request.
If the Liberty Mayor and Aldermen vote in favor, the tower will be erected on the proposed site. If they reject the request, another suitable location will be sought out, even if it means perhaps the state working out a deal with a landowner on privately owned property in the Liberty area.
Among those at the meeting to explain why the tower is needed was DeKalb 911 Director Brad Mullinax: Jeff Gray, Director of the Tennessee Advanced Communication Network, and County Mayor Matt Adcock. County Fire Chief Donny Green and Interim EMS Director Trent Phipps were also at the meeting in support.
Gray explained that this proposal is not for a privately owned cell tower. Its strictly for public safety and its being proposed and is to be funded and maintained by the Tennessee Advanced Communications (TACN) network intended to provide first responders the ability to better communicate locally and have additional coverage to talk on the radio with surrounding state communication towers during major events and disasters. In recent months the county began funding upgrades from its old analogue system to new state of the art portable, mobile and fixed radio transmission technology and it joined the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) to eventually make the transition complete.
“As far back as 2012 the state got funding to build out the statewide radio system for in-vehicle coverage which is high powered radio,” said Gray. “We got funding in 2023 to build out the rest of the system to fill in gaps so that primarily all state users, THP, TDOT, TWRA, state parks, etc could be outside the vehicle to talk. The goal is to have portable coverage across most of the state of Tennessee focusing on the interstates and major highways like Highway 70 and 96 in DeKalb County and other state highways that converge as well as the county seats and high-density population areas. In doing so the governor recognized that while we are going to build this statewide system we still have a problem talking to local law enforcement, fire, EMS,” explained Gray. “The goal is to use the state’s infrastructure so everybody can talk together. They need to be able to communicate. That’s one of the biggest complaints we have is that the THP and sheriff’s departments may be working a case together but can’t talk to each other on the radio. The idea is while the state is building up their system, to allow partners (counties) to join at no cost although there is an expense in that you (counties) have to buy radios compatible with the state’s radio system,” said Gray.
“How it impacts Liberty,” Gray explained is that “while this community is beautiful it’s in a hole. There are ridges around it and it makes coverage difficult. For a radio to talk it has to be able to see the other radio so we have to get them up high especially on ridgelines so we can talk on either side of the ridge and down in the valley. That’s the benefit and why Liberty was selected. Not only does it help with coverage in this community, but it also helps with covering a lot of these hills and valleys in DeKalb County and over greater distances. For example, we want to give EMS the ability to be able to talk directly to the acute care centers whether they be in Nashville, Chattanooga, Cookeville, etc. This new system allows everybody to talk together. Its fills in the gaps in coverage and allows you to talk greater distances partnering with the state. It’s built to be redundant. It never goes down and allows radio systems to back up to the state’s metropolitan areas of Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, or Jackson,” said Gray.
According to Gray, the state looks to place its towers on property already owned by either state or local governments and it tries to avoid making deals with private landowners or cell phone companies mainly due to unforeseen future costs.
“The first place we look at is state owned property and then county owned properties with a long-term lease and then private property but that comes with a challenge in potential ownership changes or cell tower compatibility. With an initial $2 million dollar investment per tower site, Gray explained that exploring other alternatives for tower location privately could become cost prohibitive over time.
“If Liberty says no we will have to look for another spot,” said Gray. “The challenge is we will have to find another spot with an equal height that allows us to look over the topography,” said Gray.
911 Director Mullinax further explained how the proposed site at Liberty was selected.
“Late last year the county decided to join the state TACN system in an effort to improve our communications,” said Mullinax. “We have struggled with communications in DeKalb County for at least 25 years and done everything that we could to fix the system. Our system is very antiquated and that’s why we ditched the old analogue system and decided to sign on with TACN. It is a state-of-the-art radio system that is interconnected across the entire state. We have never had good radio coverage in Liberty and Dowelltown so we started looking at ways to fix that with the TACN system. We and Motorola looked at some sites and found ideal locations to put the towers. We are putting one at Wolf Creek near the Dam. And we looked at this Liberty site which gives amazing coverage inside the city limit of Liberty and Dowelltown extending probably all the way down Highway 96 and Highway 53. It is very important that we get a good public safety radio system. I am just asking for your consideration to approve this. It is much needed,” said Mullinax.
EMS Director Phipps gave a recent example of the spotty radio coverage.
“Last Monday on Mill Street in Liberty, the ambulance had to back out onto the highway to be able to talk on the state channel and the deputies could not use their analogue radios at all. Everybody was using cell phones at that point,” he said.
“Since the new fire hall and EMS station have been operational at Liberty we have had problems notifying the staff at that station to the point that sometimes we just have to actually pick up the phone and say did you get that call because nobody is enroute,” explained Mullinax. “That may not seem like a big deal but that’s minutes and if your loved one is having a heart attack or some other life-threatening emergency those minutes can save lives. We want this to be as efficient as we can to get you the help you need,” said 911 Director Mullinax.
A few residents at the meeting, while acknowledging that better emergency radio communication is needed, said there should be more than one option to locate this tower.
“I think everybody here is in agreement that we need it. Its just where it goes. There is only one option on the table and that doesn’t make sense to me,” said one Liberty resident.
“I understand there is a need, but I would like to see what the other options are,” said another resident who lives near the proposed tower site. “Yes, its an eyesore. A 300-foot tower is huge. I already have one in my back yard and now I could have one in my front yard. I’ll be sandwiched in between the two towers. As an investment, a lot of people now don’t like seeing a (tower close by) and you can’t give property away with two towers setting like this, but I know lives are more important,” he said.
“We are for the tower but if you built a house on this property and a tower goes up next to it that’s not what you expected futuristically down the road, you have questions and we have lived in Liberty our whole life,” added another concerned resident.
One woman, who lives near the Liberty Fire Station, said she had no problem with a new tower being erected close to her home.
“I live right in front of the fire department and have lived here for almost 43 years. I don’t understand what the big deal is about the tower. It is needed. The communication down here has been sorry for years. This tower is going to go in my front door. I’m for the change. If that tower is going to change things for your emergency people, they need it,” she said.