Joyce Mears' home near LeClaire, Iowa, USA, overlooks the Mississippi River where the Canadian Pacific Railway plans to build a 150-foot communications tower.

10 October 2011

Tower Will Ruin River Views

LeClaire Iowa USA - The Canadian Pacific Railway's federally mandated need to build a 150-foot communications tower along its tracks near the Mississippi River is clashing with some residents' desire to keep obstructions out of their, and others', river view.
 
Joyce Lund Mears, who lives on a century-old farm off U.S. 67, just north of the Olathea Golf Course, received an email from the railroad 12 Sep 2011 stating that it intended "soon" to build a structure inside its right-of-way near her property.
 
Mears is adamantly opposed to that, saying the structure, including the tower, an 8-by-22-foot one-story metal building and a surrounding fence, would ruin her view and that of the River Highlands housing subdivision north of her property as well as for people traveling the Great River Road.
 
Looking southeast from her house, one first sees Mears' lawn, then U.S. 67, then a grassy road ditch, then the railroad tracks, then more grass and trees down to the river.
 
The railroad wants to put the structure in the road ditch between the highway and the tracks.
 
An 1899 deed on file in the Scott County Recorder's office conveys to the railroad 50 feet of right-of-way on either side of the tracks, and railroad spokesman T.J. Nelson said the Canadian Pacific is confident it holds the proper title to the proposed tower location.
 
Mears and her attorney, Mike Meloy, of Bettendorf, disagree, saying that right-of-way is for the conveyance of trains on the tracks, not for the construction of buildings.
 
Nelson said that because of the technology used to operate trains and the federal mandate for the communications tower, structures are part of what it takes to run a railroad.
 
He added that the Canadian Pacific has tried to be accommodating in picking a site for the tower. The land near Mears' is the third location it has considered.
 
"With land constraints, topographical issues, and proximity requirements to other towers, Canadian Pacific gave great consideration to alternative sites in an effort to minimize the impact to area residents," he said.
 
The first site considered was within the city of LeClaire, but the railroad discovered it did not have enough land for the tower's footprint, Nelson said.
 
The second site was about 1 1/2 miles south of the Mears property, but the structure would have been "within directly 200 feet of homeowners' front doors," Nelson said. "As a courtesy to neighbors, we decided to move" to the site nearer Mears' property, he said.
 
"There is no perfect spot," he added. "Our goal is to cause minimal impact to the area for a project that we are required by federal mandate to construct."
 
Mears questioned whether a quarry site owned by River Stone Group might be a better location since it is already industrial. Nelson said the railroad looked at that, too, but it was deemed unsuitable.
 
"Because of the creek and deep ditches around it, we would be unable to establish the necessary foundation for the bungalow and tower at the quarry site without fill, (and) the tower and bungalow cannot be constructed on top of fill," he said in an email.
 
Another area near Bud Creek in south Princeton also was examined, but Princeton is too far north to provide the federally required radio overlap with the Davenport and Clinton towers, Nelson said.
 
He points out that in addition to being beautiful, the Mississippi River is also an active transportation corridor for barges, trucks, and railroads. The railroad would like to get the structure built this year.
 
Mears hopes the railroad will reconsider its location again.
 
So do residents of the River Highlands subdivision, a representative of the homeowners association gathered 117 signatures on a petition opposed to the tower location.
 
Mears argues that the view along U.S. 67 in that area is a state and national treasure that needs to be protected. She cites a 2009 National Geographic article that called the route from Davenport to Minneapolis as one of 50 "drives of a lifetime" in the world.
 
Alma Gaul.