Warden agrees to tower lease

WARDEN — A new Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) tower in Warden is closer to being built after a city council decision Tuesday.

The tower is part of the center’s plan to increase radio reliability in the area. The improvements include new towers and new radio equipment. The project is being paid for by a voter-approved 0.1 percent sales tax.

The Warden tower was added after the center had difficulty finding a location for its Moses Lake site. Plans call for the antenna to be moved from the top of the water tower on Nelson Road. The center found a location on Wheeler Road. Radio Communications Manager Dean Hane said the location required an additional tower in Warden.

Othello City Administrator and Warden resident Ehman Sheldon criticized the MACC tower location, along with a Verizon tower on Beck Way during a previous city council meeting. He questioned whether the tower could be built with the zoning in the area, saying it doesn’t allow buildings taller than two stories or 35 feet.

The council decided to delay signing the lease, waiting for more public comment, Mayor Roldan Capetillo said.

“The comment period hadn’t ended yet, and now the comment period is over and there was no comment,” City Administrator Mike Thompson said.

Councilmember Tony Massa asked about Sheldon’s concerns about the zoning and whether MACC’s tower was considered a municipal facility.

“Is it if something like this were to go to court, is it going to be something that is going to be on our side?” Capetillo asked. “It is municipal because it is MACC and it’s a 9-1-1 service. It is paid by the citizens, isn’t it?”

City Attorney Katherine Kenison said it is a municipal facility and MACC is a municipal entity.

“It’s not a private corporation,” she said. “Municipal facilities are exempt from (the restrictions.)”