A public hearing on the highly contentious proposal to build a set of radio transmission towers in Point Roberts likely won't take place until spring.
Whatcom County is still dealing with the application by BBC Broadcasting Inc. to erect five 45- metre (150-foot) steel towers at an undeveloped lot on McKenzie Way in Point Roberts near the border with Tsawwassen.
The towers would transmit South Asian radio station KRPI AM 1550, which broadcasts from studios in Richmond. Also known as Sher-E-Punjab AM 1550, the company uses antenna in Ferndale, WA, but wants a stronger signal in the Lower Mainland. The Federal Communications Commission has granted a construction permit but a conditional use a permit is still required from Whatcom County, which says a National Environmental Policy Act checklist was completed for the project.
Suzanne Bosman, a project planner with the county, told the Optimist additional information has been requested from the applicant. Once that has been received and reviewed, a staff report will be put together for the county examiner. That report will either recommend accepting or rejecting the application.
Regardless of the recommendation, the examiner will then hold a public hearing. That hearing, which is open to residents on both sides of the border, was originally scheduled for this month, but has been delayed for at least another couple of months until the additional information has been received, Bosman explained.
Public interest in the project has been intense. Citing a myriad of concerns from health to interference with electronic devices, opponents on both sides of the border are asking for donations to help fund a legal fight to halt the proposal.
Suzanne Rosser with the Cross Border Coalition to Stop the Radio Towers said lawyers have been hired on two fronts. One is in Washington, DC, specifically dealing with the FCC, arguing the glaring flaws in the application, while the other lawyer is dealing with Whatcom County.
"People living in Tsawwassen really do have a lot at stake. A lot of the area of Tsawwassen is going to be covered with the most critical (electromagnetic frequency) strength. They have a lot to lose," said Rosser.
Whatcom County will accept public comments until the date of the hearing (for more information check the county's webpage on the application at www.co.whatcom.wa.us/pds/plan/
current/krpiradio.jsp). A twist, meanwhile, comes from Sher-E-Punjab Radio, which is among several applications competing for the vacated local AM 600 signal.
According to its application to the CRTC, Sher-EPunjab Radio, which also submitted a couple of alternate FM proposals, would cease broadcasting on KRPI
1550 if successful.
The CRTC is holding a hearing on the applications in Surrey later this month.
A staff member with Sher-E-Punjab told the Optimist they currently only "rent space" from KRPI and KRPI would have to be contacted regarding the Point Roberts tower application.
Rosser said it's not clear what could occur if Sher-E-Punjab is successful, but someone else could end up using AM 1550 and want towers in Point Roberts.
She said a town hall meeting would be held at the community centre in Point Roberts on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. It will be an opportunity to update citizens on the legal challenge as well as get a handle on everything else going on, she said.
For more information on the meeting or making a donation to fund the legal fees, visit notowers.webs. com.
