| Draft Environmental Impact Statement Shorts School Road Am Antenna Structures 13 Phase II of the proposal provides space on the four additional 199 foot support structures to accommodate another future AM radio station operating at an output of 10-15kW at the Shorts School Road site. It is electrically difficult for AM radio stations to share transmission structures, particularly if the frequencies of the AM radio stations involved in the co-location are close together, or if the necessary orientation of the signal transmission array is different for each station. The additional Phase II structures included in the proposal would allow another broadcaster to locate at the site and still be able to create an FCC-compliant broadcast pattern. Construction of Phase II would supply future telecommunications capacity in the Snohomish River Valley, and would thus reduce or eliminate the need for other future communications sites elsewhere within the Valley. Additional Considerations The proposed transmission structures will function as a broadcast antenna for KRKO-AM, and other potential AM radio signals. KRKO has been allocated 1380 AM as its frequency by the FCC. Although AM signal transmission sites typically use guyed antenna structures, this proposal has been redesigned to utilize self-supporting structures. The proposal has also been redesigned to re-size the structures. These steps have been taken to reduce potential environmental impacts of the proposal in response to public comments received by the County. Although the antennas used for cellular or paging transmission consist of masts or panels that are often attached to a steel structure, for AM radio the steel structure is the �antenna.� AM radio stations require more than one antenna structure to create their signal depending on whether or not they �protect� (i.e., avoid interference with) other radio stations around the United States. KRKO will utilize four antennas to shape its signal in order to protect stations in Silverdale, Washington; Ontario, Oregon; Parksville, British Columbia; Sacramento, California; and Pearl City, Hawaii. The Code of Federal Regulations 14 CFR 73.24 (g) requires that AM radio stations locate their transmitters in non-urban environments by ensuring that the population within the station�s 1V/m service contour is less than 1% of the population captured by the 25 mV/m service contour. This mechanism ensures stations can meet their requirement to mitigate reports of RF interference within the first year of operation. The FCC regulations encourage transmitter sites to be located in rural areas, away from the concentrated population areas. Post-construction vehicular traffic from the proposal would be minimal, consisting of infrequent maintenance visits. The Applicant intends that the property would be used for agricultural use in the portions not taken up by the antenna and equipment building footprints (over 99 percent of the site would be available). |