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County board approves $250,000 for Meadowbrook radio tower, contingent on zoning
Summary
After a planned private tower fell through, the board approved building a county radio tower with an estimated cost of $250,000, recommending $83,000 from a resource development fund to cover the gap and asking for zoning approval before construction.
The Sawyer County Board approved funding for a county‑owned radio tower in the Meadowbrook area after an outside developer's permit expired. County staff and the Public Safety Committee recommended building a tower to ensure county radio coverage; the project cost was estimated at $250,000.
County staff reported $167,000 was available in contingency from a larger $2,825,000 project and recommended $83,000 come from the resource development fund to fully cover the tower cost. Staff said construction requires concrete foundations that must be poured and cured and estimated the tower could be operational by the end of summer, subject to zoning approval. The motion to approve spending for the tower was contingent on zoning approval and passed.
The finance committee had previously approved the item with no negative votes; board members discussed a repayment analysis based on potential lease revenue and a $1,000/month lease assumption and noted that lease revenue could shorten payback to roughly five to six years.
Why it matters: A county radio tower improves emergency communications and county radio coverage; it is a capital project with modest upfront cost but multi‑decade infrastructure implications.
Next steps: The project will proceed to zoning for approval; if zoning is granted, the county will begin construction and pursue potential lease agreements to offset costs.
Attributions are to the Public Safety and Finance Committee reports and the county administrator's recommendation recorded in the meeting transcript.
