approved minutes

Town of Townsend Planning & Zoning Committee Meeting Tuesday, January 7, 2025 The Comprehensive Planning Commission for the Town of Townsend was called to order at 5:00pm on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 by Chairman Tim McGuire Commission members present: Dan DeMoulin, Joanne Jones, Willie Evans, Dave Exferd, Linda Ziegler, Tim McGuire. Ken Schwebke was absent. Also present, Lee Larsen, agent for Bug Tussel 1, LLC Confirm proper posting of meeting notices: The notice was posted at the Townsend Town Hall, Laona State Bank, Townsend location, Townsend Post office and www.townsendwisconsin.org, on, December 27,2024 and emailed to board members and additional copies were available at the meeting. Evans made the motion to approve the minutes from November 6, 2024 and 2nd by Jones, M/A. Parcel #042-410502243, 16621 Pine Tree Rd, Conditional Use Permit – Bug Tussel: Lee Larsen said Bug Tussel wants to erect a 300Ft cell tower, lit according to FAA regulation, white during the day, red at night. Separate driveway entrance and fall zone for the guides. There will be 50x50 gravel compound with 2 control cabinets. ATT will be leasing space, with 3 more available slots for additional coverage. The goal range will be a 5-mile radius. Two more towers are proposed north of Townsend Lakewood area. The Fanny Lake area has a big hole. ATT will try to fill this service. The tower should be available later this year. There are 15 regulatory agencies to go through, including the zoning process. Bug Tussel will own the tower; Jason Arnoldussen owns the property and will lease the property. The tower should last 50 years, however, the technology will probably change. Bug Tussel (named after Jed Clampet’s home town) was started in the late 90’s by a dairy farmer in Green Bay to provide reliable internet to rural Wisconsin. His goal was to keep service economical and provide low rent for co-locations. There are currently 500 towers in the state and are expanding to surrounding states. The cost of the tower is $210,000 to install. This service will require line of site for internet, but not for cellular. ATT’s wireless is starting to kick in. Bug Tussel’s fiber is growing fast. This is an ATT starting point and then Bug Tussel will reevaluate their services. No rezone is necessary. There are adequate public facilities to serve the proposed land use. The burdens on the local government for providing services for this proposal are reasonable. The proposal agrees with the Town Vision Statement as found in the Town Comprehensive Plan. The proposal agrees with the Town Goals, Objectives and Development Strategies as found in the Town Comprehensive Plan. Exferd made the motion to approve the Conditional Use Permit for parcel # 042-410502243, 2nd by DeMoulin – M/A No public comment No other business The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 5pm, if necessary Evans made the motion to adjourn at 5:31, 2nd by Jones – M/A