In other emergency-related news, the problematic radio tower north of Dolores needs a new signal booster, but has no easement and the county has found no record of who actually owns it.
I just say things the way they are, said County Administrator Ashton Harrison. To put money into something where there is no clear ownership, no easement with the federal government its just perpetuating a bad problem. Its not that its not a good thing to have a new booster up there; thats a totally separate argument.
Harrison and Federal Lands Coordinator James Dietrich are working to verify who owns the tower and the property it is on.
Board member Larry Rule said that the tower likely was put up by the Colorado State Patrol, and that the state probably owns the land.
Gerald Koppenhafer added that the state patrol had used the local dispatch center in the past.
Highway patrol used to dispatch out of the city and thats when the tower got put up by the state. Then they moved everything to Montrose, Koppenhafer said. Im sure the state still owns it.
Harrison said the county are working on the issue but the tower should still be used just for emergency purposes only.
