Storm-damaged tower to get 100- foot upgrade

HARTINGTON - Work continues on replacing the county’s emergency communications tower after it was knocked down by a storm last month.

The Cedar County Board of Commissioners reviewed quotes and specifications on replacing the tower at its meeting last week.

Kevin Garvin, the county’s emergency manager, recommended replacing the downed 300-foot guy-wire tower with a galvanized free-standing 400-foot tower.

Guy-wire towers require regular maintenance to check for corrosion every few years.

“It may cost more originally but you save in the long run,” Garvin said.

Also, the extra height will help to cover gaps in coverage throughout the county.

Garvin recommended the bid from Sabre of Sioux City, Iowa, because the company’s lead time was significantly less than the other bids - 8 weeks instead of up to 14 weeks. The company also produced the communications tower in Wynot and the tower has held up well, Garvin said.

He’s been working with an insurance adjuster for a value on the tower and those discussions are ongoing. The damaged tower’s steel can be salvaged at about $125 per ton.

With the insurance settlement and scrap value, Garvin estimates there will still be a gap in what is needed for the new, larger tower.

“They’re still looking at everything. It’s to be determined at this point,” Garvin said.

He is also awaiting word from the FAA on whether or not the tower will need to be painted since it is located near the Hartington air field.

He hopes to have the new tower back up and running by the end of the year.

In the meantime, the county is using an old Hartelco tower that was sitting idle just 150 feet away from the downed tower site north of Hartington.

The county was up and running on the temporary tower within 48 hours after the May 12 storm, Garvin said.

“”If this would’ve happened 30 years ago, we’d be sitting ducks and not be able to do anything,” Garvin said.

“Throughout the year, the commissioners have been good enough to invest in backup systems just in case something happened. Now that it did, it was money well spent.”

The earliest records of the tower date to 1976.

The county board agreed with Garvin’s recommendations and authorized him to proceed.

Garvin also updated the commissioners that the county website changing to a .gov prefix. Next, Riverside Technologies of North Sioux City, S.D. will be working on updating staff emails to reflect the .gov prefix.

At its meeting last week, commissioners also:

- Discussed a weed issue on a specific property and how to proceed with Weed Superintendent Justin Heikes.

- Approved public defender contract.

- Approved two right-of-way permits.

- Approved liquor licenses for the Cedar County Fair.

- Approved conditional-use permits and variances presented by the zoning administrator.

- Heard a report from Roads Superintendent Carla Schmidt.