Midvalley cell phone service for Verizon Wireless customers is set to improve as Pitkin County moves forward with leasing telecom space to the carrier.
The Pitkin Board of County Commissioners gave initial approval at their Tuesday work session for the wireless network operator to install a 10-foot tower extension and new generator at the county’s Crown Communications site.
The expansion would increase cell coverage for Verizon customers in Willits Town Center, Missouri Heights, Emma, Sopris Creek and the south of Crown Mountain, according to Jeff Krueger, telecommunications director for the county.
“It’s a rural area,” he said. “A lot of homes in here don’t have cell coverage today.”
Krueger said that Verizon approached the county about closing service gaps in the midvalley and found the Crown site to suit their needs. The project would only support Verizon customers.
The carrier can take space in the site that has been empty since 2010. The county uses part of the 900 square foot facility for public safety radio communications and TV/FM broadcast service and Pathfinder and Rise Broadband use the facility for broadband services. The site has three communication towers; two 40-foot towers and one 60-foot tower.
Verizon would lease the empty space for equipment and install a 10-foot extension on the 60-foot tower and a generator for power redundancy. They would pay the county $2,000 monthly for the lease, a five-year term with up to four additional five-year extensions for a total lease period of 25 years.
The county leases the space on which the facility is located from the Bureau of Land Management. Krueger said he anticipates BLM approval for the proposed telecom additions.
The BOCC supported the proposed lease, though Commissioner Jeffrey Woodruff expressed concern over wildfire risk.
“It would not be a meeting without me asking you, ‘Why are we continuing to use propane in the wilderness?’” he said to Krueger.
Krueger said he would address that in the future. The BOCC will formally vote on the proposed lease at their regular meetings later this month.
Depending on the approval timeline, Krueger said in an email to the Aspen Daily News that the installation could come as early as this fall or next spring. Once started, he said he would expect construction to take about a month.
