Afton tower foes: It may look like a tree, but it's not

Afton residents who live near the proposed site for a Washington County public safety communications tower told commissioners Tuesday that the tower would stand out too much and hurt their property values.

"We don't think that's an appropriate site for the tower," said Diane Dettmann, who lives in the Afton Hills subdivision, where the 88-foot "stealth" tower -- resembling a large pine tree -- would be installed. Dettmann said 14 houses surround the 1.6-acre site. "There are a lot of people who don't want the tower for a number of reasons," she said.

Another Afton Hills resident, Frank Sando, said that neighbors had considered buying the land at 15326 Afton Hills Court South, owned by Jeffrey and Jennifer Morgan, to stop construction of the tower.

But Jeffrey Morgan, in a later interview, said he's trying to do the right thing for the city where he's lived for 20 years.

"I wouldn't like to spoil Afton at all," he said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office wants a tower in Afton to complete its new 800-megahertz radio system, which is part of a statewide upgrade in radio capabilities to help law enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency responders better communicate in times of crisis.

The tower is the last of 14 sites in Washington County under consideration and is essential for reliable radio communication in the hills and woods around the St. Croix River city, the Sheriff's Office has said.

Sheriff Bill Hutton said the long-running debate in Afton has delayed the August start-up of the radio system. When Washington County unveils its new radio system, it will be the last metro county to do so. Hutton said the county can't start the radio system without the Afton tower.

"Afton always has been a dreadful black hole, I know that from being a radio amateur myself," Morgan said. He said a 55-foot "ugly metal tower" that had a 24-foot radio antenna on top of it stood on his property for 10 years until it blew down, and he wonders why some residents now oppose a tower that will look like a pine tree.

"The way my property is, I'd be surprised if anyone could see it," said Morgan, a photographer.

Should the county buy his land, Morgan said, he and his wife would lease the house and continue to live there. He declined to reveal the purchase price but said the agreement calls for a two-year renewable lease. A garage on his property would store equipment for the tower, he said.

Hutton said the Sheriff's Office has done "an excellent job" over the past two years compromising with Afton residents, including reducing the height of the tower.

"Hopefully, where we land will work for everybody," he said.

Morgan said that some of the neighbors who oppose a tower on his land attended a community meeting where it was decided that a stealth tower would be best for Afton. And other neighbors support the tower, he said.

"I'm not trying to be the bad guy here," Morgan said. "I see this as a win-win for the neighborhood and for me."

At Tuesday's special County Board meeting, commissioners voted to extend the time needed to act on a petition from several Afton residents asking for an environmental assessment of the project. The petition was drafted in December.

County commissioners will revisit that issue May 13.

On May 5, the Afton Planning Commission will review the county's request to build the tower. The request would go to the Afton City Council for consideration May 20.

Kevin Giles • 651-298-1554