Construction is underway for a second time on four 104.5 metre tall radio towers north of Black Diamond after it was discovered the structures were being built in an incorrect location.
Construction is underway for a second time on four 104.5 metre tall radio towers north of Black Diamond after it was discovered the structures were being built in an incorrect location.
Touch Canada Broadcasting received approval from the MD of Foothills last winter to construct four towers to broadcast an AM Christian radio station to Calgary listeners on a quarter section of land one kilometre north of Black Diamond, west of the Sheep River. However, construction had to be stopped as the towers were being built more than 400 metres from the approved location.
Jason Parker, MD of Foothills councillor for the region, said a resident in the area informed the MD of this fact in August and Industry Canada was immediately contacted.
Touch Canada Broadcasting then requested an allowance on the location, but MD council voted against their request at its Sept. 10 meeting, he said.
The company was required to tear down what had been built and start again at the approved site.
Darcy Hnatiuk, general manager for Touch Canada Broadcasting, confirmed the towers are now being constructed at the correct location, but refused to comment on why the towers were being built at the wrong site.
The process to identify a location for the towers began in 2006.
“It's been a long haul and a lot of work,” said Hnatiuk. “We started eight years ago. We are excited that we are moving forward.”
Kimberly Epp, who lives half a mile north of the site, said the original plan should have been followed all along.
“There shouldn't be any surprises and there shouldn't be any changes,” she said. “I'm entrusting Industry Canada to ensure all the rules and regulations are being followed by the broadcast firm.”
Epp said with towers built in the current location, it will have little effect on her view.
“I'm okay with it given that Industry Canada has done their due diligence and they have ensured public safety and welfare,” she said. “That's the most important thing to me.”
The Christian-based company had its eye on the Black Diamond area for its towers for years, yet the previous locations identified by the MD of Foothills for the project received strong opposition from Black Diamond area residents.
The first site proposed south of town along the Cowboy Trail had residents worried the towers would ruin the natural landscape of the tourist attraction, while a second location 1.5 km west of the Cu Nim Gliding Club pitched in 2012 raised concerns about potential dangers due to its proximity to the club's flight patterns.
The land purchased at both locations is now up for sale.
The ultimate location was met with the least opposition, with less than a dozen residents attending the public information session held in December 2013.
Brian Graf, who attended the meeting, said he lives less than a kilometre east of the site and is not happy with the decision.
“The people in the other places didn't want it, yet somehow people in this area don't matter,” he said. “Those are 300-foot towers – four of them. It's not going to be good.”
Graf said he feels the MD, which recommended the site as an appropriate location for development in 2013, doesn't care about residents living in the area.
“When you look out the window you see those four big towers there,” he said. “They couldn't have put it in a worst spot if they would have tired.”
Parker said the MD always has the best interests of its residents at heart.
“I'm the representatives of my residents so it's my job to do everything I can to do that,” he said. “The MD does care. That's why we went to the lengths we did to make sure this was corrected.”
Parker said it's better the MD find a suitable location for the towers than have Industry Canada be the one to make the decision.
“This isn't an ideal location for some of my residents, but the MD staff had decided it was the best alternative,” he said. “There wasn't as much opposition at the open house at this location as there was for the other locations.”
Hnatiuk said the four towers will be painted grey to blend with the sky and lights installed on the towers will point upwards to reduce the impact on residences in the area.
