KTRB Serves Notice On Move To Bay Area

The following public notice appeared in today's edition of the Contra Costa Times:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, C-8442
KTRB RADIO TOWER PROJECT

PROJECT APPLICANT: Pappas Radio of California 500 S. Chinoweth Road, Visalia, CA 93277

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The primary objective of the proposed project is to establish radio service provided by Pappas Radio of California (Pappas), a privately held, commercial television and radio broadcast group. Pappas affiliates include KTRB, a talk radio station licensed to Modesto. Construction and operation of the proposed project would establish the service area of KTRB to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The radio communication broadcast tower system would consist of four towers, associated piers, anchors, four equipment structures and one transmitter building, ground systems and counterpoises, fencing, and various ancillary communications services. These facilities would cover approximately 22 acres.

The four towers would be 18-inch wide vertical tubular lattice steel structures approximately 190 feet in height, with guy lines and anchors at locations deemed necessary for support of the tower.

Buildings would include four approximately 30-square foot (sq ft) aluminum structures at the base of each tower and one approximately 1,000-sq ft building for transmitting and ancillary equipment. The 1,000-sq ft building would be constructed of either prefabricated materials or cinderblock, and would be located on an approximately 4,500-sq ft (0.10 acre) concrete pad in the center of the site. The site would be surrounded by approximately 6-foot high fencing, constructed of wood or metal, to prevent unauthorized access to the structures.

The radio towers would be powered by two diesel generators 24-hours a day that would be located on the 4,500-sq ft concrete pad described above. A back up generator would also be located on the project site to supply electricity in the event of a power outage. The larger 275 DQAE, 470 bhp generator would operate at night to power the transmitter, which only operates at night. Both generators would have exhaust silencers, and would be located in sound-attenuating structures. The diesel fuel for each generator would be enclosed in two 5,200 gallon steel tanks, located approximately 10 feet from the two generator structures.

Lighting. Lighting associated with the tower system would include minimal safety lighting at each building and high voltage floodlights for use only when nighttime repair or maintenance work is required. The safety lighting would be activated from a timer switch inside the building. The switch would turn the safety lighting off automatically shortly after maintenance personnel leave the site. No motion or infrared sensor switches would be used.

Pursuant to FAA requirements, permanent nighttime lighting is not required on structures less than 200 feet in height; thus no lights would be located at the tops of the 190-foot towers.

Access Road. A new 12-foot wide and approximately 840-foot long (0.23 acre) access road would extend from the existing access road to the tower site. The road would be unpaved.

PROJECT LOCATION: The project site is located in south-central Alameda County, approximately four miles east of the Interstate 680/State Route 84 interchange and two miles east of the San Antonio Reservoir in the eastern end of the La Costa Valley. The site is located on private property and is situated to the north and east of the Alameda Watershed owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). Access to the project area occurs only through SFPUC land and is allowed only by the property owner
through an access easement.

If you challenge the decision of the Board in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence delivered to the East County Board of Zoning Adjustments at or prior to the public hearing. Said public hearing will be held on Thursday, September 29, 2005, beginning at 1:30 p.m., in the Public Works Operations Building, 4825 Gleason Drive, Dublin, California. A decision may or may not be made at this hearing.

Any decision may include findings related to, and approval of, an environmental analysis prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act for this project, which is available from the Alameda County Planning Department by calling the telephone number presented below.

All persons interested in the matter may appear and be heard at this meeting. For more information, please contact Bruce Jensen at 510-670-5400.

The transmitter facility described here is for KTRB's nighttime signal; the daytime signal would be broadcast from another facility in the Northbay near Novato. The FCC construction permit for the new Bay Area-based KTRB is set to expire in 2006, and is reportedly non-renewable.