Mayor pledges to protect skyline

Sisters Mayor Steve Wilson said the city soon will hire a consulting firm to give advice on whether it must approve the siting of cell towers within the city and, if so, how best to minimize the visual impact.

"Ninety percent of my motivation is to protect the view corridor -- the natural skyline -- for the general population of residents," Wilson told The Nugget. "Towers are clearly not compatible with the character of our community."

Wilson said the city will not be pressured.

"We will not be signing any leases (with cell tower developers) until the consultants report to us (the city council)," Wilson stated.

A critical part of the information provided, according to Wilson, will be legal.

"Do we need to play in this game at all will be one of the answers we expect," he said.

The mayor stated that the city is committed to safeguarding the skyline and that if towers were not mandated by law, they wouldn't be approved.

While explaining that the forthcoming legal opinion from the consultants would determine future city action, Wilson said his current understanding of applicable law is that Sisters will have to make some accommodation.

"I believe that the Federal Communications Act mandates us (the city) to provide infrastructure for each of the competing (cell phone) technologies -- that we can't discriminate between them," he said.

The consulting firm, according to the mayor, will clarify the city's options. The firm will answer key questions such as the minimal technological requirements of microwave towers and the distancing requirements and height a tower must be to provide service.

In the mayor's opinion, the best option may be to have the city select one location for tower placement and ban all others. He also felt that one tower may be preferable to many.

"I think one tower just breaking the tree-tops (at the sewer facility) would be less visible than four 80-footers in town.

"You know," he said, "we already have three or four towers in the downtown area. One of them is temporarily sited on our pole behind City Hall."

Wilson said the city would evaluate the consulting firms, recommended by the League of Oregon Cities, and select one "probably within two or three weeks."

Spectracite Communication, a cell tower construction firm, is the immediate reason for the city's activity on this issue. Spectracite is awaiting city council action on its July 26 proposal to erect a 150-foot tower on the site of the new sewer plant.

The planning commission recommended approval.