Dec 10, 2006 1:03 pm US/Mountain
Golden Digital TV Tower Bill Reaches Bush's Desk
by Raj Chohan
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) ―
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Lookout Mountain (File)
CBS
A late-night vote in Congress has broken an 8 year deadlock over the construction of a digital TV tower in
Jefferson County.
A group of homeowners who've battled against the tower called the Congressional vote outrageous.
A group of four TV stations, including CBS4, has been seeking permission for a single tower to replace several others.
Sen Wayne Allard led the bipartisan effort to mandate the construction of the new TV tower.
"We had just a few people in and around Lookout Mountain who were preventing the upgrading of new technology for the towers affecting more than 600,000 viewers in the Denver Metro area, and that's something that I think we couldn't allow to happen," Allard said.
The tower would guarantee free digital signals for HDTV throughout metro Denver, something the Federal Communications Commission has mandated be in place by 2009. The act of Congress would essentially put an end to the local battle between a group of station interests versus homeowners opposed to the tower.
Because the Congressional action happened in the middle of the night and essentially passed before anyone in the opposition could do anything about it, there were some hard feelings for the lawmakers who ushered it through. Golden City Manager Mike Bestor is among the critics.
"It's such a basic element of our democracy that people have a right to be heard before you pass legislation," Bestor said. "It definitely leaves a bad taste in our mouth."
Homeowners opposed to the digital tower complained for a long time and argued in court that it would put their health at risk by emitting more radio frequencies. They also have complained about the aesthetic impact.
Proponents of the new tower say it will actually lower the amount of frequency, though, and make less of a visual impact because it will consolidate four towers into one.
"RF on the mountain will be reduced; 75 acres of open space will be created with no cost to the taxpayer," said Marv Rockford, spokesman for the Lake Cedar Group, which represents the stations. "Everything on Lookout Mountain gets better with this consolidated tower."
The bill passed in the Senate and House, which means its last stop is going to be the president's desk. He is expected to sign it. The tower is supposed be constructed by 2009.
"I don't believe that it services the community," Russell Hawkins of the homeowner's group said. "I believe there are other issues besides HDTV."
"If we had not intervened at this point and time, because of the length of the court case, we would have been coming into 2009 without the towers upgraded," Allard said.
The bill had bipartisan support. Democrat
Sen. Ken Salazar also supported the measure.
Additional Resources
- Visit the Web site for HDTVColorado.com, which provides more information about the proposal.
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