ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, August 14, 1996             TAG: 9608140065
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG 
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER

BLACKSBURG DELAYS VOTE ON TOWER

GTE Mobilnet's request to build a cellular phone tower off Blacksburg's North Main Street will have to wait another two months.

Blacksburg Town Council on Tuesday voted 5-2 to delay until its first meeting in October a decision on whether the proposed location for the tower is the best site.

GTE Mobilnet wants to build a 150-foot tower, 13-foot lightning rod, concrete equipment building and 8-foot security fence between North Main Street and Giles Road near New River Cement Co. The proposed location, just a short distance from Blacksburg High School and a town park, faces the primarily commercial North Main Street but extends to a residential neighborhood on Giles Road.

The tower would serve downtown Blacksburg, an area GTE Mobilnet contends is not getting adequate service as demand increases. Blacksburg cellular phone customers now are served by towers atop Price Mountain and Peddler Hills.

Several council members said they were not convinced the Main Street location was the best spot for the 150-foot tower because it would be too visible. Also, a few council members wanted the town to develop a plan for cellular phone towers before approving this tower, the first of its kind in Blacksburg.

Although GTE Mobilnet has agreed to share it, the tower could accommodate only one other wireless provider.

The town's planning and engineering department has examined several other sites, including the Blacksburg Industrial Park, a nearby water tank and the Virginia Tech campus. Many locations were rejected because they were not feasible - with the exception of Virginia Tech, whose officials said a tower probably would be rejected by the university's architectural board.

Council member Michael Chandler wants to get a definitive answer from Virginia Tech before approving the North Main Street tower.

Al Leighton, another council member, said GTE's request should not be further delayed.

``I'm satisfied that this location might be the best, but from what I can see we need to evaluate the future construction of such towers and have a plan that would allow expansion of such towers as they are needed,'' he said.

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