Among a number of items up for discussion and decision this evening online for the Polk County Commission’s September regular session is whether they will give permission for a special land use permit and two variances from normal zoning regulations on whether they will allow a cell phone tower to go up on property just off Collard Valley Road.

The Board of Commissioners held a public hearing and gave a representative of the project Michael Nicosia the opportunity to explain the project and answer questions from commissioners during their Monday evening work session.

Nicosia said that the landowner – Edward A. Benefield – is seeking permission on behalf of CitySwitch and his firm Tower Engineering to put up a 200-foot monopole cell tower with a 10-foot lightning rod on the property, well behind on a separate parcel from the home and road frontage that the tower will sit upon if approved for construction.

Nicosia said that AT&T and a company called FirstNet are both utilizing 4G wireless equipment on the pole with the potential to move to 5G in the future with upgrades as the first tenants for CitySwitch’s tower space, which could accommodate three more wireless carriers. His request included a variance from the norm for right of way access to the site, and for the 2.5-times distance from another building that is a requirement currently in place should the tower collapse. He said the tower is designed to implode in on itself should it ever encounter winds strong enough to cause it to buckle, allowing for the debris to fall in a 100-by-100 foot square around the site.

The plan is to put a 50-by-50 foot fence around the immediate perimeter of the site to also protect the wireless carrier’s equipment on site.

“It’ll fall within this area, collapse on itself, buckle internally and collapse within the area if something were to happen,” Nicosia said during the Zoom-based work session on Monday evening.

He noted when asked by Commissioner Ray Carter what the engineering was to allow for a monopole tower to collapse in on itself that he was not immediately familiar with the specific designs within the tower that allowed it to do so, but that he was certain that a third-party engineer had confirmed the design would work within the project’s specifications and sent a letter in with the application as part of the overall project package on the construction. Saber Industries is building the tower itself.

Additionally, the goal is to maintain tree cover around the site to help cover up some of the roadway sighting of the tower, though it will stand higher in elevation and be more than 100 feet off the roadway.

If approved, the new tower would increase the wireless coverage for AT&T and customers that utilize the network on a secondary basis, like MetroPCS or Straight Talk as examples.

The decision will be one of the first during the 7 p.m. Zoom call coming up in a few hours.

They’ve also got a decision on the FY 2021 budget, a request for a roadway name correction in the Rolling Hills Estates subdivision in Rockmart, the bid committee’s recommendation on janitorial services for county buildings, an amendment for the P-25 radio system with Cherokee County, Alabama, a request to reschedule the November meeting to accommodate the upcoming election, and a new task order with Oasis Consulting for the old Highway 278 landfill.

The commission also is being sought to approve a voting delegate for the 2020 ACCG policy agenda decisions, a resolution seeking a zoning change for farm wineries, another GDOT supplemental agreement for the runway project, a request for out of state training for a county police officer, an ordinance amendment on out of state training, and reports from County Manager Matt Denton on the finances and an opportunity for commissioner comments before going into an executive session over potential litigation and personnel.

They’ll adjourn the session following that.