Tidal Network and Petersburg Borough officials said they would look into relocating planned communications towers in Petersburg during a Feb. 2 work session. The highly anticipated session between the Borough Assembly and Tidal Network lasted more than two hours, with extensive testimony from the community.
Tidal Network is a young enterprise. The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska created it to develop broadband infrastructure in Southeast Alaska using money from a federal grant awarded in 2022. It’s building communications towers in several communities around the region, including three in Petersburg.
The first tower already stands on an industrial-zoned lot off a private road in town, Mill Road, with homes nearby. Construction work for the other two towers has not started.
One would go up in the Papke’s Landing neighborhood roughly 10 miles south of town on private property owned by Tidal Network; the other proposed tower would be next to the town’s fire station on a borough-owned lot that Tidal Network has applied to purchase for the project. That sale is still in negotiations. The contract terms will go before the Assembly for final approval.
“I remain open to supporting the land sale, but that support depends on whether negotiations between Tidal Network and the Borough produce meaningful solutions to the concerns consistently raised by borough residents,” Assembly Member Bob Martin said at the Feb. 2 work session. “Without that, I will not be able to support the land sale.”
Over 25 people attended the work session and had the opportunity to testify. Several Petersburg residents shared the same idea: they want Tidal Network to consider building the towers in different locations because the current sites are near some residents’ homes.
Heather O’Neil is a member of Petersburg’s Planning Commission but represented herself when testifying.
“Are you willing to relocate, even if it costs you money to maybe put in a little bit more of your own infrastructure?” she said.
“We are open to relocating,” Tidal Network Director Chris Cropley responded.
According to Cropley, Tidal Network is willing to hear alternative site suggestions and look into whether they meet coverage requirements. He said the towers need to be set up in spots that allow the broadband technology to effectively reach customers, which can be difficult with the meandering coastline and mountainous topography of Petersburg’s Mitkof Island.
“We have spent years combing over property and creating a plan and finding locations that work to meet our coverage goals,” Cropley said.
He said finding different spots with adequate coverage for the towers would be a greater obstacle than the time, effort or monetary cost associated with relocation.
“Show me a location that will work — I’ll work till my eyes bleed to figure out all the rest,” Cropley said.
Since last fall, a number of residents have spoken up about their concerns and frustrations with the project. But not everyone is opposed to the idea.
Kari Petersen is a resident who works at Petersburg’s Public Library. Representing herself when testifying, she said she was excited to hear about the broadband infrastructure grant because it could benefit libraries in rural communities that lack internet access, and she thought some of the pushback against Tidal Network’s project was misdirected.
“I really feel like it is needed,” she said. “We need our zoning laws to catch up with where our society is today, and instead all that energy, I feel like, is really being directed at Tidal, which is kind of unfair.”
Tidal Network’s towers are allowed under local law. Petersburg’s zoning code was adopted in 1985 before cell phones and broadband existed. The Borough’s Planning Commission is working on updating it, but that wouldn’t affect the towers currently being built, and the time-consuming process could take more than a year to complete.
At the end of the work session, Petersburg’s Mayor Bob Lynn said that, while they may not be able to move the one tower already underway on Mill Road, the Borough will try working with Tidal Network to find different spots for the other two towers.
“If the coverage is there, if we can possibly do it, I think we’d be willing to work as quickly as we can possibly pull it off,” Lynn said.
After the work session, Cropley and Lynn confirmed with KFSK that Tidal Network and Petersburg Borough officials intend to collaborate on weighing their options moving forward.
A follow-up work session is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, at noon in the Assembly Chambers. The public can attend to listen, but there won’t be an opportunity to make comments. According to the Borough, it’s for the Assembly to hear more information from Tidal Network and check on the potential relocation efforts made since the Feb. 2 work session.
