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Truckee CHP tower proposal includes smaller option

Margaret Moran
mmoran@sierrasun.com

TRUCKEE, Calif. — Officials are seeking feedback on new alternatives for a California Highway Patrol radio tower in Truckee.

The project originally called for replacement of CHP’s telecommunications facility with a 120-foot tall, four-post radio tower with three, 10-foot diameter microwave dishes.

The initial draft environmental report (EIR) was up for review in late 2012, proposing seven location alternatives throughout the town and a no-project option.



Some comments, however, requested additional alternatives in an effort to reduce visual impacts.

“The quality of our natural environmental and our small town character are fundamental to our local economy,” wrote Truckee Mayor Carolyn Wallace Dee in a late 2012 letter to Gov. Jerry Brown. “ … The tower is not compatible with our natural environment or our small town character, and I fear it will have a permanent and catastrophic impact on our community.”



The revised EIR lists new alternatives, one of which is identified as the environmentally superior option — an 80-foot steel-lattice tower supported by wires, with two, six-foot diameter microwave dishes at the Gateway Shopping Center, near the intersection of Highway 89 and Donner Pass Road.

The project is part CHP’s Enhanced Radio System program, which aims to enhance statewide radio communication for safety and service purposes.

CHP must convert its radio communication system to a new digital frequency by November 2016, as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission.

The department’s Truckee Area Office at 10077 Highway 89 serves is a communications hub for four offices — Truckee, Gold Run, South Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass Inspection Facility — and portions of Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado and Alpine counties.

HOW TO COMMENT

Comments specific to the draft EIR revisions will be accepted until Sept. 13 and should be emailed to Jennifer Parson, senior environment planner, at environmental@dgs.ca.gov.

Copies of the recirculated draft EIR can be viewed at:

Truckee Library, 10031 Levon Avenue, Truckee

Town of Truckee Planning Division, 10183 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee

California Department of General Services, 707 Third St., third floor, Suite 401, West Sacramento

Online: http://www.townoftruckee.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9422


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