Commissioners are looking to expedite the removal of a cell tower on the county campus.
Emergency Management Director Matt Ansorge presented his proposed budget for 2026 and longterm plans for his department at Tuesday’s budget workshop session.
Dismantling the cell tower south of the law enforcement center, an $80,000 project, was in the county’s Capital Improvement Plan for 2029. However, commissioners suggested they want to get work done sooner than later.
In late 2021, the county board, in an effort to expand cell phone coverage and internet service, approved construction of a 195-foot lattice-type telecommunications tower on the Leelanau County Government Center.
“Verizon looked into building a tower and that didn’t work out. So, the county decided to build its own,” Ansorge said.
Construction of the tower cost $435,650 which came from $4.2 million in federal COVID-relief funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Construction began in spring 2022 with completion anticipated by mid-September of that year.
In addition to improving emergency communications, the tower was expected to have space aloft for several commercial telecommunications carriers to lease and “co-late” equipment that could improve cellular phone coverage and wireless broadband. The county planned to earn money leasing space on the tower to the commercial enterprises. But that never came to pass.
And no one, including former county administrator Chet Janik, can say why. He retired at the time the tower was under construction.
“It’s been on the back burner for some time,” District 5 commissioner Alan Campbell said. “I’d like to see it get down now. 2029 is way too long.”
The county is not expected to be able to recoup any of these funds by the sale of the scrapped material.
