Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408220058
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on a proposed 120-foot FM radio tower on the western end of Price Mountain, located roughly halfway between Prices Fork to the north and Vicker to the south.
The new structure would be as tall as the Bell Atlantic tower that's already atop Price Mountain, but would be less visible, its potential builder says. By way of comparison, the radio tower would be nearly two-thirds the size of the tallest building on the Virginia Tech campus, the 189-foot Slusher Tower.
The board meets at 7 p.m. Monday on the third floor of the Montgomery County Courthouse in downtown Christiansburg.
The supervisors also will hear from U.S. Forest Service and Appalachian Power Co. officials on the controversial alternative routes for the utility's proposed 765,000-volt power line. Two of the alternatives pass through the Toms Creek and Mount Tabor Road areas north of Blacksburg.
The board, urged by power-line foes for weeks to take a stand, may consider a resolution about the alternatives. "I have no idea where this discussion will go," Supervisor Jim Moore said Friday. Moore, who represents the Mount Tabor area, asked that the matter be brought up.
The Giles County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Aug. 2 pledging to work with Apco and government regulators to minimize the impact of the power line if it must pass through the county. And the Pulaski County supervisors said July 25 they viewed the power line as necessary for economic development and they wanted it speeded up rather than delayed.
The radio-tower issue, meanwhile, has potential to be either a yawner or a hot potato.
Towers on ridge lines have been traditional catalysts for controversy in Montgomery County. Two months ago, Contel Cellular dropped plans for a 185-foot tower on Paris Mountain after widespread, outspoken opposition from Ellett Valley and Blacksburg residents. In 1991, Reed Lumber Co. withdrew plans for a 300-foot tower on Price Mountain after a similar outcry.
But so far, according to three supervisors, a radio-station executive and the county planning office, there has been no organized outcry against the new tower.
Price Mountain is already the home of two major towers - a 120-foot Bell Atlantic communications tower and a 185-foot Contel Cellular tower - and two smaller, less visible ones. They stand about 1 1/2 miles east of the site where New River Media Group Inc. wants to erect a new FM tower as part of its effort to change the frequency and boost the power of WVVV (104.9 FM).
The plan is part of New River Media's recently completed purchase of WVVV and WJJJ (1260 AM) and their consolidation with the operations of Pulaski's WPSK (107.1 FM).
In the future, the company plans to close the WVVV-WJJJ studio on North Franklin Street in Christiansburg and take down the existing AM transmission tower, which has a small FM antenna for WVVV mounted on its side. Those plans await settling on a site for WJJJ's new AM tower, which requires a large, remote site, according to Gary Hearl, managing director of the Richlands-based company.
On July 20, the Montgomery County Planning Commission recommended 6-1 that the supervisors approve the new tower. The only "no" vote came from commission member Jim Martin of Vicker, who repeated his argument in favor of a "tower farm," or a place where towers would be consolidated, rather than scattered on various mountains.
Hearl said Tuesday his company's proposed tower would be less visible than the existing towers atop Price Mountain for two reasons: first, it will only be 6 feet wide at the base and will taper toward the top; and second, the top of the tower will not exceed the highest ground elevation of the 2,400-foot mountain. The tower should stand 60 to 70 feet above the treetops and will not have to be colored or lighted, he said.
By comparison, the square-shaped Bell Atlantic tower is 26 feet wide and the Contel tower is 18 feet wide at its base, Hearl said.
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