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Garfield County takes step to relocate precarious radio tower

Garfield County’s Board of Commissioners agreed Monday to pay Xcel Energy just under $325,000 to power up one of their new radio towers.

It’s the next step in relocating a precarious tower to a more secure place.

 

Anvil Points is a radio tower that sits on the Roan Plateau between Rifle and Parachute. It’s used by TV, commercial radio and broadband. The tower sits at the base of a cliff, near an old mine. The county and the BLM decided the road up there is so rough, it’s dangerous, and the current power line poles need replacement, too.  

 

The existing tower is also surrounded by a rare species of plants: Parachute penstemon. They’ve worked out an alternative site, further down from the existing one; Mountain Radio Systems will build it and Xcel Energy will lay the energy infrastructure. Xcel will cover the cost of decommissioning the old tower, around $200,000.

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