PORT TOWNSEND — The area around the Jefferson County Fairgrounds eventually will not be a dead zone for Verizon cellphone coverage now that the county commissioners have agreed to move forward on a lease to place a cell tower on the property.
The commissioners approved going ahead with the lease during their afternoon session Monday, with Commissioners Kate Dean and Greg Brotherton voting in favor of it and Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour abstaining.
The county was approached by Cellco Partnership, representing Verizon Wireless, in 2020 about leasing an area of less than 1,000 square feet of the fairgrounds, said Mark McCauley, interim county administrator.
The company would pay $14,400 a year to lease the space. The lease would be for five years with the possibility of four five-year extensions, for a total of 25 years, McCauley said.
The Jefferson County Fair Association — as well as county staff — support the tower, but fair president Sue McIntire requested part of the yearly rent go toward the fair association.
The specific amount that will go to the fair association will be worked into the lease agreement that McCauley plans to bring to the commissioners on Monday, he said.
The commissioners conducted a public hearing Monday morning on the tower. Two residents spoke in favor while a third expressed concerns that electromagnetic fields pose a health risk.
A fourth resident attempted to also give verbal testimony, but due to technical difficulties, she was unable to do so.
Residents also submitted written comment with concerns about both electromagnetic fields and possible easement problems. The original commission agenda did not have the specific location of the tower attached.
The utility hook-up easements are on the fairgrounds, and if wiring does need to run across someone’s property to reach a utility pole, it can be run underground, McCauley said.
The tower would be located east of the end of the main strip of county fair buildings, about 560 feet from 49th Street on the north side of the fairgrounds, and about 360 feet from Pettygrove Street to the east, according to the map McCauley shared Monday.
District 3 Commissioner Greg Brotherton said that, even in the studies that were attached to the written public comment, potential health impacts were regarding people spending long periods of time in close proximity to the tower.
The studies cited months of continuous exposures, Brotherton and McCauley said.
That wouldn’t be the case at the fairgrounds, as the tower would be more than 100 yards away from any residential homes or schools in any direction, and the fairgrounds are used sporadically throughout the year for short time frames, they said.
“This is probably as good a location as possible to mitigate impacts to population centers or schools,” Brotherton said. “I think it does hit a lot of the criteria in those cautionary papers, actually.
“So, I think the people who are opposed to it are philosophically opposed to it, and with the actual mitigations, this a great spot for that.”
McCauley and commission Chair Kate Dean agreed.
“I don’t think a cell tower on that property is much of a health risk for anybody,” McCauley said.
Eisenhour abstained from voting due to having hesitancy about possible health concerns, but she did support the public may benefit from expanded phone and internet access there, especially during an emergency.
Monday’s hearing and discussions can be watched at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-FairgroundsCellTower.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
