Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Gnss topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Wayne County schools approve TDOT request to place GNSS antenna on a school building
Summary
The Wayne County Board of Education approved a partnership with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to host a GNSS (high‑accuracy GPS) survey antenna on a school building; TDOT said the installation requires a small exterior mount and a 10‑volt power connection and posed no security risk.
At a Wayne County Board of Education meeting, the board approved a partnership with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to install a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) survey antenna on a school building and to provide a power connection for the device.
Board approval matters because the GNSS network provides high‑accuracy location data used for surveying and engineering projects; TDOT representatives said placing a station in the county will improve local survey accuracy.
TDOT representative King Waters described the system as a statewide network of stations that gives roughly 1‑centimeter positional accuracy for survey equipment. Waters said the network currently includes 43 stations statewide and 14 in Tennessee border regions and that stations in the area have existed since 02/2007. He described the installation as an exterior antenna mounted on the side of a building, a cable run to a receiver located inside (typically a server room), and a simple 10‑volt power plug for operation. Waters said the antenna body is about the size of a dinner plate and that a small mast — roughly 8 feet tall — would be required in some installations.
Board members asked about security and day‑to‑day maintenance. Waters said TDOT no longer requires a hard line tie‑in; the unit can operate over cellular service and that there are no security concerns with the device itself. He said occasional maintenance might include asking staff to unplug the receiver for 30 seconds and plug it back in.
Board member motions to approve the partnership were made and seconded; the board approved the measure by voice vote.
The board did not set additional conditions in the meeting record. TDOT representatives said a contractor would perform the physical installation and that the agency seeks only a power connection and exterior mounting permission from the district. No fiscal commitment from the school system beyond providing power was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Looking ahead, TDOT will coordinate site specifics and installation timing with district staff and school leadership.
