Bonner County seeks input on tower proposals

SANDPOINT - The Bonner County Planning Department is seeking public comment on proposals to erect wireless communication towers north of Ponderay and Kootenai.

The comments are being sought as the Bonner County Planning and Zoning Commission prepares to take up the proposals during public hearings on Thursday, March 5, at the Bonner County Administration Building.

The hearing on a tower planned off Colburn Culver Road starts at 5:30 p.m. The hearing for the tower planned for north of Kootenai starts at 6 p.m.

Bonner County Planning Department staff reports on the proposals are pending and will be published on the department's portion of the county website as the hearings draw closer.

Verizon Wireless is seeking conditional permit approval to install a 130-foot monopole with associated base station equipment off Colburn Culver Road.

The tower would have a 12-panel antenna array and co-location capability, which means other wireless service providers could also use it with their equipment, according to the permit application. The site would have a 10-foot by 26-foot equipment shelter.

The wireless service provider also proposes a 125-foot monopole tower off Porath Road.

Both towers would be painted a dark forest green to blend with their surround and both would seek to "remedy capacity and coverage challenges in the area generally north of Sandpoint, including the U.S. 2/95 corridor," Madeline Chaney of Odelia Pacific Corp. said on behalf of Verizon in a project narrative.