New Emergency Communications Tower in O'Fallon Could Reach to 345 Feet

READ MORE: Communication Tower Site at Sheriff's Office Just One of 12 Proposed for County

Last week, O'Fallon Patch brought you some background information about the new St. Charles County emergency communications system, with its network of 12 new towers, that was designed to bring the county into compliance with FCC mandates.

Patch spoke with Jennifer George, director of policy for St. Charles County about some specifics for the tower being placed in O'Fallon.

The 345-foot tower, which will be built on the Sheriff's Department property at 101 Sheriff Dierker Court, is just off Tom Ginnever Avenue. The site is across the street from Fort Zumwalt North High School.

All of St. Charles County's 12 towers will be of the lattice-style design because of the microwave equipment that must be installed along with the radio equipment. That kind of equipment, George said, doesn't mount very well on a monopole tower.

"If you think of that big old dish on a single stick, the stability of the structure isn’t there," George said.

St. Charles County is not subject to municipal zoning, so the site plan and permitting will not be going through the city's Planning and Zoning Commission.

George corrected a mistake on the the County's website that currently lists a St. Charles County tower location on South Point Prairie Road in Wentzville. The South Point Prairie Road location, she said, is just a mailing address for Indian Camp Creek Park and should not be listed separately.

But some of the county's plans are still up in the air.

"Until we have a finalized system for the entire county we don’t essentially consider any of the sites completely final," George said. "Obviously with the sites we have purchased or that are already county-owned property, we are beginning the process of starting work on those sites."

Along with the proposed 345-foot tower in the city of O'Fallon, towers are planned at the St. Charles County Highway property on St. Peters Howell Road in St. Peters (400 feet), at 975 Meyer Road in Wentzville (330 feet) and at Indian Camp Creek Park north of Wentzville near the county's border with Lincoln County.