Friends of Brockway: Send HARD COPY of letter with concerns to SBA

Alert from Gina Nicholas:

HOUGHTON -- For everyone who filed a letter with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) regarding the proposed Brockway Cell Tower on or before Aug. 20, 2014, please be sure that you sent a HARD COPY to SBA at the address below.  If you filed online but did not send a hard copy, PLEASE SEND NOW via regular mail! You may also wish to distribute your letter via email to SBA and the FCC.

Here are the addresses:

SBA Contact for Service of Pleadings: SBA Towers III LLC, Attention To: Edward G. Roach, 5900 Broken Sound Pkwy NW, Boca Raton, FL 33487.

Courtesy email copy of pleading to ERoach@sbasite.com.
Courtesy email copy of pleading to Donald Johnson at the FCC --  donald.johnson@fcc.gov.

Some people are beginning to be contacted directly by the FCC. If you are contacted, please send a message to wildlandco@gmail.com and let us know why. What you learn may help others who are concerned about the proposed Brockway Cell Tower.

Friends of Brockway Mountain: Today is last day to submit petition on Brockway cell tower location

According to Friends of Brockway Mountain, "On a USGS topo map the red dot/cross is the proposed Brockway Tower location. This tower and its lights at night will be obvious from Copper Harbor, Keweenaw Mtn Lodge, Lake Medora, Brockway summit, US 41, and..... forever." (Image courtesy Friends of Brockway Mountain)

From Friends of Brockway Mountain
Reprinted from their Facebook Page with permission

[Editor's Note: We regret the late posting of this information. We just learned that today, Aug. 20, is the final day to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this  "Petition to Deny" the proposed Brockway Mountain cell tower application by SBA. Friends of Brockway Mountain are not opposed to a cell tower but to the proposed location for a tower on Brockway.]

COPPER HARBOR -- YOUR ACTION NEEDED NOW!!! In spite of the strong opposition, the FCC is continuing to consider Brockway Mountain for a cell tower location. We only have until AUGUST 20, 2014 to contact the FCC about Brockway Mountain, file number A0909673. Please petition the FCC to deny the the Brockway Mountain cell tower application by SBA file number A0909673 on the grounds of fraudulent inducement and misrepresentation to Keweenaw County; SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office); US Fish and Wildlife; and citizens, businesses, conservation organizations and visitors. 

SBA and its agents falsely represented that Brockway Mountain was the only location for a cell tower to ensure public safety. A grassroots-funded engineering study showed other locations provide equal or better to provide public safety. Defacing Brockway Mountain to improve SBA's profit margin is a tragedy to be avoided. Please contact the FCC by following the instructions below. Be sure to copy your message and also email it to: the FCC, SBA, Ramaker and Associates, elected officials, US Fish and Wildlife, SHPO and Keweenaw County. Please be sure to always use file number A0909673 and customize your message as you see fit and THANK YOU for DEFENDING BROCKWAY MOUNTAIN.

Here is the procedure to file a "Petition to Deny":

Compose the text of your Request for Environmental Review and save it as a document(s) on your computer. You may use Word or any of a number of other popular formats. You will also have an opportunity to attach photographs or other materials in separate documents.

1) Point browser to this link: http://www.fcc.gov/category/help/wireless-telecommunications-bureau/petitions-and-pleadings
2) Select "File Environmental Request" at top of page.
3) Read and follow instructions on the page.
4) At the bottom of the page click "Continue"
4) Go to the Pleadings Page.
5) Select the Pleading Type "ASR Environmental Request Notice" from the drop down box.
6) Enter your Filer and Contact Information and click Continue.
7) Click the File Number button.
8) Enter the ASR File Number (A0909673) associated with the application you are challenging in the box and click Submit.
9) Check the box next to each File Number and click Continue.
10) Select the Type of Pleading (Petition to Deny). Browse to the location on your computer to upload the pleading, enter a brief description of the pleading, and click Add Attachment.
(Note: Repeat Step 10 for each separate file you want to upload.)
11) Click Submit Pleading.
12) Upon successful submission you should automatically be assigned a filing number. Write it down or otherwise save the number.

If you have trouble, contact the FCC at Phone: 1-888-225-5322.

Friends of Brockway Mountain to hold meeting Nov. 26, Pizza Party Benefit Dec. 14

HOUGHTON -- Friends of Brockway Mountain invite all interested persons to a meeting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the new Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District Office (HKCD) at 711 W. Lakeshore Drive in Houghton. You may park on the driveway in front of the three-car garage.

The purpose of this meeting is to get organized for the study for alternatives to the proposed Brockway Mountain cell tower and particularly the fund-raising plan.

Dana Richter, president of Copper Country Audubon (CCA), has obtained approval from its board for CCA to be the fiscal agent for this project. In addition, the CCA board has allocated up to $1000 in matching funds.

Lori Hauswirth has posted the project on Facebook.* Anyone who wants to help fund this project should send a check to Copper Country Audubon dedicated to the Friends of Brockway Tower Study. Mail your check to the following address:

Copper Country Audubon
Friends of Brockway Tower Study
PO Box 124
Houghton, MI 49931

Friends of Brockway Pizza Party Benefit Dec. 14, Copper Harbor

Friends of Brockway will hold a Pizza Party Benefit at 5 p.m. Saturday evening, Dec. 14, 2013, at The Mariner in Copper Harbor.
 
Everyone is invited. Gail English, Erika Vye and Steve Brimm will provide music. Proceeds will go to fund the study for alternatives to the proposed Brockway cell tower.

Please share with anyone who is interested.

*Click here to visit the Friends of Brockway Mountain Facebook page.

Friends of Brockway Mountain: Deadline for comments on Brockway cell tower is June 10, 2013

By Friends of Brockway Mountain

This photo, taken from a lookout point on Brockway Mountain Drive, looking east, offers a view of the town of Copper Harbor, the harbor at left and Lake Fanny Hooe at right. The proposed cell tower location would be about 3/4 of a mile west of this lookout point. (File photo by Keweenaw Now)

COPPER HARBOR -- If you love the scenic value of BROCKWAY MOUNTAIN and historic BROCKWAY MOUNTAIN DRIVE your ACTION is Needed NOW!!!!

Please do something TODAY or TOMORROW, Monday, to help protect Brockway Mountain from degradation and damage from an ill-conceived cell tower location. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: the deadline for comments is Monday, June 10, 2013.

If we don’t act, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) are not going to do anything and will let SBA and Ramaker proceed with a 199-foot cell tower on Brockway Mountain Drive that will require power to be run up the Drive from Copper Harbor.

The following actions would help communicate that the local community strongly supports and has been requesting an alternative to a cell tower on Brockway Mountain Drive.

1. Please call (leave a message) and email Brian Grennell, Cultural Resource Management specialist in Michigan's SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office). Tell Brian that the only acceptable mitigation for the proposed Brockway cell tower is to find an alternate location(s). Also ask Brian to invite the FCC’s Steve DelSordo to participate in a process to work with the community in order to find alternatives that will serve the cell phone needs of the Copper Harbor community and surrounding region.

Email Brian Grennell at GrennellB@michigan.gov or call him at 517-335-2721.

2. Call and write Steve DelSordo, Federal Preservation officer for the FCC. Tell him Brockway Mountain's constituents respectfully request that a more transparent and honest process be used to work with the community to bring cell service to Copper Harbor and the surrounding area. Ask the FCC to become an active facilitator and help the community protect Brockway Mountain -- a historic, ecological and scenic vista treasure of Keweenaw, Michigan, and the World -- while at the same time establishing a reasonable cell phone approach and installation for the area.

Email Steve DelSordo at stephen.delsordo@fcc.gov, call him at 202-418-1986, or write to him at
Stephen. G. DelSordo, Federal Preservation Officer
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

3. The Ramaker (SBA Consultant) comment period ends on Monday, June 10, 2013. The above actions are needed by then, and messages should continue to be sent to Ramaker (history@ramaker.com)! In the message, say who you are and state, "The only reasonable mitigation for a cell tower on Brockway Mountain is to find an alternative site." If you have already sent comments to Ramaker, also send them to Steve DelSordo and Brian Grennell.

IF SHPO and the FCC receive many requests this weekend, they will have grounds to do something different.

THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF THIS DECISION TO PUT A CELL TOWER ON BROCKWAY.  PLEASE CALL AND WRITE A QUICK E-MAIL BY MONDAY!  ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES TO DO THE SAME VIA FACEBOOK AND EMAIL!!
Thank you for helping to save this TREASURE!!

Editor's Note: See the May 29, 2013, article, "Citizens, groups, speak at public meeting on potential effects of proposed cellphone tower on Brockway Mountain."

Citizens, groups, speak at public meeting on potential effects of proposed cellphone tower on Brockway Mountain

By Michele Bourdieu, with information from Friends of Brockway Mountain

In Grant Township Hall, Copper Harbor, concerned citizens, business owners and representatives of community groups gather for the May 22, 2013, public meeting on a proposed cellphone tower projected to be built on Brockway Mountain. The room eventually filled with more than 80 persons. (Photo © and courtesy Gina Nicholas)

[Editor's Note: This is a slightly updated version of the article we posted Wednesday evening, May 29. We received the additional information today, May 30.]

COPPER HARBOR -- In the small Grant Township Hall in Copper Harbor, a very big meeting concerning a proposed cellphone tower on Brockway Mountain took place on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) determined the tower would have "Adverse Impact" and required Ramaker and Associates, INC., and SBA Communications Corporation (SBA) to organize this public meeting, citing it as an opportunity for community members to comment upon ways to "avoid, minimize or mitigate" any adverse effect to Brockway Mountain Drive that a cellphone tower might pose.

The proposed site for the tower is located 0.6 miles west of the Brockway Nose. The tower will be about 200 feet north of Brockway Mountain Drive. Its location is marked on this map:

On this map, the red dot/cross (to the left of the number 31 just north of Brockway Mountain Drive) is the proposed Brockway Tower location. (Map courtesy Friends of Brockway Mountain.)

The room was full and bustling with more than 80 concerned citizens and local business owners from throughout the County, while a wide array of county, state and national agencies and organizations were also represented, including (but not limited to) Michigan Nature Association, Copper Country Audubon, Keweenaw County Historical Society, Keweenaw National Historical Park, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, Keweenaw Land Trust, Keweenaw Community Forest Company, Keweenaw County Road Commission, Keweenaw County Board, Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, National Scenic Byways and Upper Peninsula Power Company. SHPO did NOT attend the meeting.

The large majority of attendees were not opposed to the erecting of a cellphone tower in the area; they were, however, adamant that the currently proposed 199-ft lattice tower not be located on Brockway Mountain Drive -- a major historical, aesthetic and economic resource for the region's tourism. During the public commentary, alternative locations were encouraged, along with alternate cellphone tower designs that could camouflage their presence (e.g., shorter towers disguised as pine trees -- a very viable and popular technology currently being used throughout the nation).

It is not known if any of the community’s constructive commentary or concerns will hold any weight in the corporation’s final implementation of development, as the tower is planned to be built by the end of 2013. Additionally, the corporation’s planning-process-to-date was a point of contention amongst many attendees since no planning documentation or visual props were provided in the presentation, in-depth research was not evident and no proof of ever hosting a (more general) public hearing on the matter was offered.

According to concerned citizen Bill Marlor, there was supposed to have been a general public meeting explaining everything.

"The public meeting May 22 was a requirement of Michigan SHPO," Marlor said. "Specifically SHPO finds the site will have adverse impact and wanted public comment on ways to minimize the impact."

The efforts to preserve Brockway have been a hot topic recently, as just last year a landowner and coalition of partners -- including The Nature Conservancy, Copper Country Audubon, Keweenaw Land Trust, and the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District -- worked with members of Eagle Harbor Township to obtain a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant of $498,000 with a 25 percent local match to protect the 320-acre parcel atop Brockway Mountain. A grassroots campaign triumphantly brought in nearly 500 donations from local and statewide Michigan residents, individuals from more than 25 other states and support from several foreign countries to raise the $175,000 match and secure the mountain top’s safety.*

Local advocates are now coming together again and striving to go public and make their voices heard against putting a cellphone tower on Brockway Mountain Drive. Comments to Ramaker can still be given until June 10, 2013, regarding mitigating the tower effects by emailing them to history@ramaker.com. (See below for details.) A letter writing campaign will be launched, additional community meetings held, media contacted and outreach on social media networks -- such as Facebook’s Friends of Brockway Mountain -- pursued. Currently, a petition can be signed at: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/big-birds-big-views-not.

In a May 16, 2013, letter to consulting parties, Michael S. Ursin, project manager for Ramaker and Associates, INC., writes, "As you know from earlier communications, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and SBA Network Services, Inc. (SBA) have agreed that the proposed tower will have an adverse visual effect on Brockway Mountain Drive, a site that is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.  As a result SBA has agreed with the SHPO that it will take steps to minimize or mitigate the adverse effect."

Ursin says the May 22 meeting was scheduled to give the public an opportunity to comment and those unable to attend the meeting may comment in writing. He adds the following:

"SBA will consider comments related to the mitigation of the adverse effect to the historic site made at that meeting or received as a result of the meeting’s published notice, as it formulates a mitigation proposal to be presented to the SHPO. SBA and the SHPO will then prepare a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) describing the adverse effect and detailing mitigation actions to be taken. SBA and the SHPO will then submit the MOA to the FCC for inclusion in its broader environmental assessment process."**

Concerned citizens and groups can send comments to Michael S. Ursin, project manager, by the deadline of June 10, 2013, via email at history@ramaker.com or write to him at Ramaker and Associates, INC., 1120 Dallas Street, Sauk City, Wisconsin 53583.

According to Friends of Brockway Mountain, the bottom-line desire of the tight-knit Keweenaw community is not to fight with the development of a cell phone tower, but instead to cooperate with the developers so that all parties are satisfied and Brockway Mountain is protected.

On their Facebook Page, Friends of Brockway Mountain, in addition to encouraging citizens to write to Ursin at Ramaker and Associates, Inc., also state, "More importantly, please share your concerns with your state and federal government representatives who can work to ensure the review process underway is comprehensive and complete with all alternative locations appropriately reviewed and all mitigation activities explored."

Visit Friends of Brockway Mountain on Facebook to learn more and support the effort.

Editor's Notes:

* See Keweenaw Now's Dec. 9, 2011, article, "Updated: Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board recommends funding for Brockway Mountain parcel in Eagle Harbor Township."

** Click here to read the rest of this May 16, 2013, consulting letter on Google Docs, posted courtesy of Dean Woodbeck. See also on Google Docs, posted by Woodbeck, the FCC form, which includes photo simulations showing the potential viewscape effects of the proposed tower, and an Oct. 15, 2012, letter from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

From Friends of Brockway Mountain: Public Meeting to discuss potential cell tower on Brockway will be May 22

COPPER HARBOR -- A public meeting will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at Grant Township Hall, 220 Gratiot St., Copper Harbor, to discuss and offer suggestions to mitigate the impact of the proposed 199-ft. cell tower on Brockway Mountain Drive.

This photo, taken from a lookout point on Brockway Mountain Drive, looking east, offers a view of the town of Copper Harbor, the harbor at left and Lake Fanny Hooe at right. The cell tower location would be about 3/4 of a mile west of this lookout point. (File photo by Keweenaw Now)

SBA Network Services, Inc. (SBA) and the State Historic Preservation Office have agreed that the tower will have an adverse visual impact on Brockway Mountain Drive, a site deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. As a result SBA must take steps to mitigate the effect on Brockway Mountain Drive. If they aren't compelled to consider alternatives, then the TOWER and POWER LINES could impact one of Michigan's historic and scenic treasures.

The notice of the meeting states that "SBA has considered other sites but found none that provide for telecommunication coverage needs to be fully met, or are available for lease, due to zoning or mineral/mineral rights restrictions, or US Highway 41 protective easements."*

Since Fall, 2012, two of the three proposed towers in Keweenaw County have been erected, one at Delaware and one at Lake Medora. In addition, right of way along US 41 has been cleared and over 100 power poles have been installed from Gratiot Lake Road to Delaware to serve the new tower at Delaware. When discussing the Brockway Tower some of the concerns include the area to be served; the height, color, lighting and design of the tower; and how power will reach the proposed tower.

The tower would be visible not only from areas off Brockway Mountain but also in both directions at numerous scenic locations as you traverse the drive.

* Visit the Friends of Brockway Mountain Facebook page for more information. See also their slide show on the Brockway viewshed vs. the proposed cell tower.

Editor's Note: See our  April 18, 2012, article on this issue: "Updated: Public comments on Brockway Mountain tower location to be allowed at Keweenaw County Board meeting Apr. 18."

Updated: Public comments on Brockway Mountain tower location to be allowed at Keweenaw County Board meeting Apr. 18

By Michele Bourdieu

KEWEENAW COUNTY -- The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners Chair says he will allow public comment on the Brockway Mountain cell phone tower issue at the Board's monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. TONIGHT, Wednesday, Apr. 18, at the Courthouse in Eagle River, despite the fact that the Board has already made a decision on the issue. The agenda for tonight's meeting includes an item titled "Open Meeting Compliance."

"If somebody wants to comment on (this issue), we'll save time at the end of the meeting (3 minutes per comment) when they can have their say," Ernest Mooney, Keweenaw County Board chair, told Keweenaw Now on Tuesday, Apr. 17. "But the Board is not going to re-hear this. The decision's been made, and we're standing by our decision."

Mooney noted the reason the area lacks cell phone service is that Brockway Mountain blocks the signal -- thus the location for a tower that will be higher than the mountain.

This image from the Friends of Brockway Mountain Facebook page includes this comment: "On a USGS topo map the red dot/cross is the proposed Brockway Tower location. This tower and its lights at night will be obvious from Copper Harbor, Keweenaw Mtn Lodge, Lake Medora, Brockway summit, US 41, and..... forever." Click on image for larger version. (Image courtesy Friends of Brockway Mountain)

A group of citizens concerned about the fact that public comments on this issue were not allowed at the Board's February meeting is suing Keweenaw County on the basis of the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners voted in December 2011 to approve building a cell phone tower (one of three towers approved for Keweenaw County) on Brockway Mountain -- an important flyway for migrating birds and a tourist attraction for the birders who like to watch and count them. Since that Board decision, a group of concerned citizens called the Friends of Brockway Mountain, along with other interested residents and visitors, have protested the location for the tower. Many even signed a petition against the location.

Mooney said he is aware of the birders' concerns, but he believes birds will get used to this type of tower and fly around it just as they would fly around a tree.

"They're free-standing towers. There are no guy wires on them," Mooney explained. "Birds can fly around them. Birds aren't idiots. They're pretty smart."

This osprey is typical of birds observed from Brockway Mountain, which is also a site for the Keweenaw Raptor Survey. (Photo © and courtesy Michael Shupe Photography. See more photos at www.mjshupephotography.com.)

Update: Joseph Youngman, who works on the Keweenaw Raptor Survey, sent Keweenaw Now an update saying, "I can't see that a tower placed near the east end of the Brockway ridge would disrupt the raptor survey. Nor would it harm many raptors. It almost certainly would harm many passerine (warblers, sparrows, thrushes, etc.) birds however. The death toll on passerines from towers is well documented."

Alex Protzel, a Copper Harbor resident and landowner, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the county, said he was "disappointed" that the Board did not allow public comment at the February meeting.*

"I think that many many people -- people who live here, people who visit here -- all seem to be appalled at the thought of a cell phone tower on Brockway Mountain Drive," Protzel said. "I'm happy to see that so many people are against it. I feel there's a better plan for accomplishing the same goal of providing cell phone service to this area."

Protzel and others opposed to the potential Brockway location of the tower say they are not against having cell phone service and recognize the need for it as far as safety, communications and emergency services are concerned.

"I would love to have it. Cell phone service would increase my quality of life," Protzel said. "Tourists come up here and have to scramble to find a pay phone. That's not good."

Copper Harbor has only one pay phone -- at Zik's Bar, he noted.

Residents hope to propose alternative tower locations

Protzel said he wanted to comment at the February Board meeting in order to suggest some other options for the tower location. One would be redevelopment of the currently existing communications tower at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge (Both the Lodge and the tower are owned by Keweenaw County). Since this tower is only 120 ft. high, it would have to be modified.

Another solution is to follow up on the new bill (HB 5342) that would allow co-location of cell phone equipment on State of Michigan towers, Protzel noted.**

"My main goal is just to send the tower company back to the drawing board to look at other options, because their present location is detrimental to the character of the area," he added.

On Tuesday, Apr. 17, Protzel told Keweenaw Now he has some new information from a radio engineer who ran some recent tests that showed substantial coverage potential from locations other than the Brockway location. These include a possible site on the west side of East Bluff as well as the State of Michigan police tower.

Protzel described the site on the west side of East Bluff as "absolutely superior to the Brockway location."

The 450-ft high State of Michigan police tower is located on the eastern side of East Bluff, a few miles east of Copper Harbor, and is used by local law enforcement and fire departments for radio communications.

Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti said the Sheriff's Department would love to see cell phone coverage in the area, especially since people can't even call 911.

"I wouldn't have the expertise to comment on the best location, but I would like to see cell phone service in that area to assist us in responses to emergency situations," Sheriff Lahti said.

Copper Harbor business owner Peg Kauppi, who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the Friends of Brockway Mountain have been doing research about alternatives to the Brockway Mountain location.

"There is no doubt that we need service because of the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area. But our group feels strongly that there is a good way to do this and it doesn't involve destroying the view of Brockway," Kauppi said. "We're just heartsick that people would even CONSIDER desecrating Brockway."

Kauppi noted the mountain will stand in the way of the west side of the town of Copper Harbor.

This photo, taken from a lookout point on Brockway Mountain Drive, looking east, offers a view of the town of Copper Harbor, the harbor at left and Lake Fanny Hooe at right. The cell tower location would be about 3/4 of a mile west of this lookout point. (File photo by Keweenaw Now)

"From what we understand, the Brockway tower would not give coverage to the west end of the Harbor," Kauppi said. "We are looking into the probability that the police tower (at East Bluff) would."

Kauppi said the Friends of Brockway group heard from people with technical expertise that the State Police tower has better coverage for Copper Harbor than a tower on Brockway would have. She also noted another possibility is that a private land owner on East Bluff has said he would be willing to put a tower there.

"Our group is also interested in this as an alternative. We went to the (February) meeting with excitement that we could offer something besides our general disapproval of their (the County Board's) decision. We wanted to ask them if they could notify the cell tower people that they had other ideas."

Kauppi described that February meeting as a "surreal experience" watching people denied the right to comment on this issue.

"The chair actually used his gavel and said he didn't want any more dead bird stories. Our group made it clear we weren't interested in dead bird stories either and that we had new information that would possibly benefit the county/residents. Mr. Mooney told us very loud and clear that he wouldn't hear anything on the cell tower issue. I definitely intended to speak that night," Kauppi said. "This (lawsuit) is not about money -- we want no financial gain. We want acknowledgment that our rights were trampled and that this will not continue in the future."

County officials approved tower locations in December 2011

Keweenaw County Commissioner and Vice-Chair Don Piche said the reason people weren't allowed to comment on the tower issue at the February meeting is that it wasn't an issue at that meeting, since it had been voted on in December.***

"If you want to talk about something that's not going on at the meeting you have to put yourself on the agenda," Piche explained.

Although Board Chair Mooney said he would allow public comments on this issue at tonight's meeting, he noted the Board is going to adopt a change to the meeting bylaws to include the requirement of putting oneself on the agenda to comment on anything not pending before the Board.

Keweenaw County Clerk Julie Carlson explained people would have to request being on the agenda by the Friday preceding any Wednesday meeting.

Piche noted also that the residents and business owners in Grant Township had expressed much support for the cell phone tower and were "even in support of having it on Brockway."

County Commissioner Frank Stubenrauch said, speaking for himself and not for the County Board, that he would be willing to listen to alternatives to the Brockway site.

"I'm willing to listen to alternatives they have if there are any logical and affordable ones," Stubenrauch told Keweenaw Now recently. "No decision is 'inscribed in stone.'"

Stubenrauch (who was absent from the December 2011 meeting because of illness) noted the Board's position was that the County had followed procedures religiously, holding public hearings on the issue and following the zoning ordinance protocol.

Lawsuit claims Open Meetings Act violation

The lawsuit against the County Board, however, is only "an action to compel compliance and enjoin further noncompliance with the Michigan Open Meetings Act (OMA), MCL 15.261 et seq," according to their Complaint, which also states, "The defendant's refusal to allow plaintiffs to address the Board was in direct violation of Section 3 of the Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.263(5)."

The Complaint cites Section 3 of the OMA, which states, "A person shall be permitted to address a meeting of a public body under rules established and recorded by the public body. The legislature or a house of the legislature may provide by rule that the right to address may be limited to prescribed times at hearings and committee meetings only." [MCL 15.263(5)]****

The Complaint also states the following: "The only rule provided by the Board for such meetings is that citizens stand, state their name and limit their comments to three minutes. There is no restriction as to content and any such restriction would clearly violate Section 3 of the OMA."

According to Protzel, the Open Meetings Act does not allow a public body to restrict content in the way the Keweenaw County Board restricted it at its February meeting.

"As long as the content is germaine to the county, I think it should be allowed," Protzel said.

Another plaintiff in the lawsuit, Frank Fiala, agreed an issue doesn't have to be on the agenda to speak to it. He noted Chairman Mooney, at the February meeting, had asked Protzel the nature of his comment before he began to speak.

"Under the Public Meetings Act, the chairman cannot predetermine who is going to speak or what they're going to speak on," Fiala said. "We attended the Board of Commissioners meeting in February with the intent of expressing our views on the proposed location of the cell phone tower on Brockway Mountain," Fiala said. "The indication was clear by the demeanor of the chairman that he was not going to allow any comment whatsoever on that issue, and so therefore we all got up and left."

Fiala, a former Keweenaw National Historical Park superintendent, said he joined Friends of Brockway Mountain because of his interest in birds and also in the history of the area.

"I'm interested in watching the birds fly. I have a background in raptor research," Fiala said.

He also noted his concern about the historical importance of Brockway Mountain and its connection to the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, which is a historic resource since it was built by the WPA during the Depression years.

This photo, with a cell phone tower imposed, shows how the tower on Brockway would affect the view from U.S. 41 going into Copper Harbor from the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. (Photo courtesy Chris Schmidt) Click here to see a slide show with more photos of the Brockway viewshed vs. the proposed cell phone tower.

In this case the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has to approve the cell phone tower. Fiala said he doesn't think the consultants for the cell phone tower company, who are working with the county, are aware of the historical resources involved. Any time federal permits or funding are involved, the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process, which includes the State Historical Preservation Office, is involved. In this case, Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Section 106 Consultation Guidelines for Cellular Communications Projects should be observed.

Section 106 states the following:

"While acknowledging that the APE (Area of Potential Effects) is dependent upon the circumstances of the project, the SHPO recommends the following APE boundaries for cellular communications projects in Michigan:
1. For construction of new towers or increasing the height of an existing tower (either through colocation or through an addition to the actual tower)
· 0.5 mile radius for structures up to 150 feet
· 1 mile radius for structures 151-250 feet
· 1.5 mile radius for structures 251-350 feet
· 2 mile radius for structures 351-450 feet
· Exceptionally tall towers (450 feet or more) will have an accordingly larger APE.
Topography, vegetation, non-historic development, and the character of any historic properties in the area can affect the size of the APE. Michigan has a fairly flat topography, making tall structures visible for a great distance. Structures placed on higher elevations will also have increased visibility. Such factors may justify increasing the APE regardless of tower height."*****

According to Protzel, "The first phase of the SHPO review in January has prompted the tower company to revise their initial plans of the 220 foot Brockway tower (with lights) to a 199 foot tower with no lights. Any tower under 200 feet is not required to have lighting per FCC regulations. That doesn't mean it won't have lights, but I believe they are scaling back the tower design, as the pressure mounts from various entities. I cannot confirm why the tower height was changed from 220 to 199, but I am inferring this from various conversations. While it is encouraging to see the wheels of analysis in motion beyond our local area, I hope that various historical and environmental reviews will find that the Brockway cell tower location is ultimately a poor location."

Protzel noted also this tower would be visible from the lake, lakeshore, Fort Wilkins, the Copper Harbor Lighthouse, and Brockway Mountain Drive. It would also loom over the newly acquired Hunter's Point (phase 2) land acquisition. (Click here for an aerial shot of that acquisition.)

Fiala added, "We're not against cell phone coverage in Copper Harbor, but it has to be done in a way that doesn't denigrate the natural environment."

Notes:

* The minutes for the Board of Commissioners' Feb. 15, 2012, meeting state the following: "Time was allowed for public comment but the Board did not accept comment on the proposed cell phone tower as the decision was made at all local levels of government already and the issue was not up for discussion at this meeting nor was it on the agenda." Click here for those minutes.

** See House Bill 5342.

*** See the minutes of the Dec. 20, 2011, Keweenaw County Planning Commission public hearing and meeting for details on the towers (Brockway is one of three locations for cell phone towers). The minutes seem to indicate more supporters than opponents of the Brockway tower location. Both Ed Kisiel, Eagle Harbor Township Supervisor, and Evan McDonald, Keweenaw Land Trust executive director, spoke in opposition to the Brockway tower location. Three special use permits were approved for the towers, including the one at the Brockway location.

The Dec. 21 Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting minutes record the Board's vote on the special use permits for the towers: "Motion by Mooney supported by Piche to follow the recommendation of the Planning Commission to approve the three Special Use Permits applied for by SBA Towers III, LLC for towers at the following locations: 14107 Brockway Mountain Drive, 12396 US 41 near Lake Medora and at 9779 US 41 near Delaware. Board polled. Ayes: Mooney, Piche, Rajala, Eckloff. Nayes: None. Motion carried." (Commissioner Frank Stubenrauch was absent from this meeting because of illness.)

At the Dec. 22, 2011, meeting of the Keweenaw County Zoning Board of Appeals, a public hearing was held to consider a request by SBA Towers III LLC and Verizon Wireless for a fall zone variance for the Brockway tower. Both Eagle Harbor Township Supervisor Ed Kisiel and Keweenaw Land Trust Executive Director Evan McDonald again expressed opposition. After a 3 - 2 vote approval of the variance by the ZBA, Kisiel asked to go on record as saying, "You are in violation of the ordinance article 19.2 a and b and 19.6 rules for granting a variance." (The Keweenaw County Zoning Ordinance is available on the Eagle Harbor Township Web site under Document Archive.)

**** Click here for text of the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

***** Click here for the Section 106 Guidelines.