St. Mary's County commissioners on March 6 approved a second amendment to the tower license with Crown Atlantic Company LLC that allows replacement of an unused antenna on the county's north tower with a microwave link to Prince Frederick and the SAILOR network.

Mr. Kelly, director of county information technology, told the board the plan would let SAILOR install an antenna and the necessary equipment to link the county's northern tower to Prince Frederick; fiber from that connection would be routed to the Governmental Center via the cable franchise's INET fiber. The county's library director, Kathleen Reath, attended to confirm the libraries will gain expanded bandwidth.

A SAILOR Network representative said the project will provide a redundant, higher-speed path to the Internet for library customers and school connections. Mr. Kelly said Crown Castle (the tower owner) already approved structural and frequency compatibility and will require certified climbers for the work; SAILOR will pay those installation costs.

Commissioner Mattingly moved to approve authorization for the commissioner president to sign the second amendment; Commissioner Raley seconded. The board approved the amendment by voice vote.

Staff said the change replaces an inactive antenna and does not affect the county's other towers. Presenters said the current library connection was about 1.4 megabits and the new link will increase capacity and provide redundancy.