County approves tower lease for emergency radio coverage; officials explain 'quiet zone' limits on power

The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors approved a lease with SBA Towers to place emergency radio equipment on a tower site just inside Allegheny County to improve coverage toward Iron Gate and the northern end of Botetourt County.

Matt Henkel, the county’s emergency communications systems manager, told the board the lease covers a site located off McKinney Hollow Road and is intended to address deficiencies in radio coverage in the northern quarter of the county. He described the lease terms on the record as $3,000 per month with a 3% annual escalator; the agreement has been reviewed by county counsel and the board approved it by voice vote.

During the discussion, Henkel explained that part of the county lies within the National Radio Quiet Zone associated with the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. “We are on the very edge of the quiet zone,” Henkel said, adding that the quiet zone “bisects the county right around Fincastle” and that the restriction affects how much radio power the county can radiate from towers in the northern part of the county. He said the county has adjusted system design to account for those limits.

Henkel also discussed the broader communications project, reporting the county has completed contract design review with Motorola, ordered equipment and shelters, and is finalizing site negotiations for an additional location near Oriskany intended to improve coverage and potentially support cellular colocation. He said equipment factory staging generally takes six to seven months and that the county expects to bring a related agenda item back to the board in the next couple of months for site approval.

The board accepted the lease and thanked the telecommunications staff for work on the project and for educating the public about the quiet zone’s technical constraints.