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technologies and he estimated that there will be almost a 70% roll back in new tower builds due <br />to concerns of consolidations in providers which are anticipated to occur in the near future. We <br />are rapidly approaching the point where it will be economically reasonable to allow data <br />transmission over wireless technology. Many new technologies are being developed and it will <br />be less expensive to use cellular than wire which will have a big impact on communities such as <br />Indian River County. Someone had asked about using underground wires and he noted that this <br />modern technology cannot go underground. These signals radiate from towers and the lower the <br />tower, the less area it covers. In the near future there will be more and more cell phones and <br />everyone is just guessing about how built -out the system is now. It is anticipated that Indian <br />River County will need 30 new tower sites east of I-95 in the next few years. There are also <br />some major gaps in the county. There is a lot of room for collocation in some areas and some <br />providers can be steered to public property if a decision is made to allow use of those properties. <br />Ms. Rabold stated that the preferences indicated by the Board previously for site <br />development were: first, collocation attachment to existing towers; second, replacement of <br />existing towers; and third, development of additional towers. Some discussion was devoted to <br />using public structures for collocation purposes. Requests for towers could be pre -evaluated by <br />staff and applicants attaching to an existing site with no new development would be <br />administratively approved by staff. Other applicants would be required to furnish data that <br />existing sites were either not available or not capable of supporting the needed installation. <br />Mr Edwards noted that the survey of the county found only 1 FM radio station tower <br />which did not contain any collocation sites and no AM station towers were located. (Note: Staff <br />has informed CityScape of the location of an existing AM tower in the County, to be included in <br />the revised inventory. ) <br />Ms. Rabold asked the Board for a consensus to use publicly owned properties in the <br />master plan, such as existing water tanks, roof tops, ballpark light standards and stealth <br />alternatives. An appearance standard can be developed for stealth towers. These sites are a very <br />valuable zoning tool plus revenue source for the county and could be used for 911 emergency <br />management, as well as recreation and senior citizen centers. <br />AUGUST 13, 2002 16 <br />1 <br />/01 <br />