The Northwest Communications Cooperative of Ray has requested a 40-foot setback for one of its anchor points for a tower to be installed on 6 acres of agricultural land in Marshall Township.
Dean Rustad, operations manager for NCC, said at Tuesday’s regular monthly commission meeting the anchor points for the tower are sensitive. Anchor points hold up the towers and are formed by concrete in the ground with steel shafts, Rustad said.
If a 40-foot setback was granted, the west side of the anchor point in question wouldn’t have to be farmed, thus reducing the possibility of it being ruined by farm machinery. A fence would be put around the anchor point and there would be plenty of room for machinery to move along the section line should it some day become a road.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Rustad said if NCC could move the anchor point to the 40-foot mark, which would be 7 feet from edge of the road, then the leasers of the land wouldn’t have to farm around it and there would be no risk of ruining the anchor point with farm machinery, as only one side could be farmed. At Tuesday’s meeting, Chairman Dan Kalil said the commission didn’t like to deviate from the 75-foot setback requirement and it’s trying to comply with the state law regarding setbacks. Other county officials agreed the commission would be setting a precedent if it allowed a 40-foot setback for NCC.
“We’re holding everyone else to 75 feet,” said Dennis Nelson, superintendent of the county highway department.
County engineer Monte Meiers said if the section line remained a prairie trail, a 40-foot setback wouldn’t be a problem. But county officials should always be prepared for future development. If a road was built on the section line, the 40-foot setback wouldn’t allow for much of a road, Meiers said.
“How do we know there won’t be oil there?” asked Commissioner Raymond Schmidt.
“That was Monte’s point,” Kalil answered.
Rustad said on Wednesday it’ll be hard to abide by the requirement but he will.
“I absolutely respect their wishes on it and we can do it, we’ll just have to take extra safety precautions and we’ll fence off around the guide-wire points to make sure there’s plenty of space and there’s no chance of farm machinery getting tangled into it,” Rustad said.
The commission approved the preliminary plat for the tower, as well as a second preliminary plat for another NCC tower to be erected in Hazel Township, with the second also on 6 acres of agricultural land.
In other business, the commission approved allowing Tioga gas plant officials to trench across County Road 23A in Williams County to install a a 36-inch pipeline. Jory Keever, engineer for the gas-gathering system, said it’d be more cost effective to trench than to directional drill, or bore, which would cost about $600,000. It’ll cost about $50,000 to trench, Keever said.
When concerns about responsibilities for detour signs, upkeep and other issues were raised, Keever promised the gas plant employees would be responsible for all those issues. Plant employees also are to take the necessary steps to reconstruct the road to its original condition and to coordinate the detour.
Surrounding residents and landowners who are impacted are to be contacted before the project begins, Keever said. The project is expected to be done in April, and the detour is to be 1-2 miles, he said.
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