Petersburg Borough assembly members and Tidal Network officials struggled to find strong alternative locations for two planned communications towers during a late February work session. The group met in response to community pushback over the broadband company’s towers, which some residents say are too close to homes.
Tidal Network, a broadband enterprise of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, is building three communications towers in Petersburg as part of a regional project. Tidal Network officials say the project aims to cover areas with service gaps and give households with slow internet access to a faster option.
One tower on Mill Road has already been built. Construction has not begun for one that is planned for Papke’s Landing, ten miles south of town, or another next to the fire hall on Haugen Drive.
Three assembly members met with Tidal Network officials on Feb. 19 over zoom to brainstorm alternative locations for the planned communication towers. That meeting followed a work session held earlier in the month, when officials said they’d look into relocating the towers in an effort to address residents’ concerns about the towers’planned locations. The work session was only meant to generate ideas, and the public was not invited to speak.
No easy solutions
Problems emerged as the group discussed possible new locations for the unbuilt towers. The towers need to be set up in spots that will effectively reach customers, which is difficult with Petersburg’s hilly topography. Some of the suggested locations looked difficult to develop, some were close to homes, and others were on public land that likely wouldn’t be available.
Tidal Network Director Chris Cropley said he’s working on a tight timeline, and trying to buy properties that aren’t privately owned may take too long.
Tidal Network is building communication towers using a large federal grant. Cropley said his team is applying for a deadline extension, but he’s not sure if they’ll get extra time
“I’m in a real rough spot right now — like, no BS,” Cropley said. “I only have until the end of the year to get things done.”
Assembly Member Bob Martin said trying to balance the company’s and the community’s interests isn’t simple, and it would be hard to find an alternative spot for the towers that would satisfy both. Martin pointed out that Tidal Network already owns property in Papke’s Landing.
“At some point we run up against their corporate interests,” he said. “At some point they’re going to obviously decide, ‘Hey, it’s easier just to go with what we’ve got.’”
Tidal hopes to move forward with fire hall tower
Tidal Network does not yet own the fire hall property. That lot is borough-owned, and the Borough and Tidal Network are negotiating a potential sale. The contract would go before the Assembly for approval.
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the borough looked into other sites for that tower, but didn’t have much luck.
“We have a limited number of sites within decent distance of the fire station,” Giesbrecht said. “None of them are as good as the fire station, from a standpoint of staying away from housing and other things. It’s just — it’s a better location.”
Cropley said he could take longer to look into new locations for the tower on Rory Road at Papke’s Landing if he could move forward with the fire hall location — but not if both locations were stalled.
“If Rory is holding up [the fire hall], it changes the calculus for me in a way that I don’t feel is favorable to the city,” he said.
Petersburg Mayor Bob Lynn asked Cropley how long it would take to reach out to owners of some of the sites proposed during the meeting. Cropley said it would take at least a week to determine if the properties were tower sites, and then it would depend on when he could schedule meetings with landowners.
