Lyon County Commissioners unanimously approved a pair of conditional use permits allowing for the construction of two new communications towers during an action session Thursday morning.
The towers — which will be located in the 2300 Block of Road G near Americus and the 700 Block of Road M near Olpe — will be operated by US Cellular with the goal of providing a signal boost to customers in more rural areas. The towers are expected to be approximately 150 feet tall and could eventually be used by other cell service providers pending future leasing agreements.
“These towers are stand-alone towers, so they don’t need any of the extra wiring or lighting,” Commissioner Scott Briggs said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to get people in Olpe and Americus some better service in the area … If these towers ever end up falling due to weather or things like that, they’re built to collapse on themselves so there should be no extra danger there, too. Both of them were approved by the [Zoning and Planning] Board beforehand, so our approval went through pretty easy.”
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)