On Monday afternoon, Archuleta County Commissioner Warren Brown, along with other commissioners representing Colorado Counties Inc. (CCI), presented to the state’s Cell Phone Connectivity Interim Study Committee.
The Colorado General Assembly committee is, according to the state, studying “cell phone connectivity in the state with a focus on identifying gaps in cell phone coverage.”
It first met on July 9, with a second meeting held on Aug. 12.
Brown presented alongside Fremont County Commissioner Debbie Bell, La Plata County Commissioner Matt Salka and Routt County Commissioner Tim Redmond.
The CCI panel was one of several presentations the committee heard on the day.
Brown was the first of the commissioners to speak to the panel.
“I am not an expert on cellphones and/or coverage,” Brown began, “but I would like to share with you just some general observations and experiences that we continually experience in Archuleta County. As you may or may not know, we’re in the very southwest corner and we’re a pretty small community of only about 14,000 people. However, we have a ... large of number of visitors to our community, and this is pretty much year-round now. It used to be more seasonal, but it’s not.”
Brown continued that, with Archuleta County, until recently there were two cell tower sites — Reservoir Hill and Oak Brush Hill — which are line-of-sight towers.
“And, so, it was pretty challenging and still is. We are very mountainous — we have very high mountains, low valleys and some ... very hard-to-reach areas, and we understand in this kind of rural setting that these are some challenges that we have. So, we have diligently been working in bringing better cellphone coverage to our community. We installed a monopole in a community about 10 miles away from Pagosa Springs called Aspen Springs, and it helped a little bit.”
Brown also noted that a tower was put up within the limits of the Town of Pagosa Springs on Bastille Drive.
“There was a little bit of a change there, and then we put up a tower on Cloman Boulevard, which is just outside the town limits.”
Brown acknowledged the site names likely didn’t mean anything to the committee members, but added, “We understand there is a shortfall in our cellphone service, and the life, safety and health of our community very much depends upon having continued service. It’s not unusual that our 911 service goes down, as was stated in the previous presentation. Most of our 911 calls come from cellphones, and it’s not unusual to experience a fiber cut and, when fiber goes down, our cellphone coverage goes down.”
Brown noted that is “particularly concerning” in search-and-rescue settings and other types of incidents.
He further added Hinsdale County installed a 150-foot pole that has helped the immediate area of the tower, which was previously a big dead spot, but they are still working to make improvements.
“We’re trying to attract providers to put ... cellphone service up on a tower at our county-owned road and bridge yard. This would provide service for our local fairgrounds and a number of events,” he said.
Brown noted that more than 60,000 visited and attended the Fourth of July Parade.
According to a report provided to The SUN by Placer and Visit Pagosa Springs, more than 63,000 people visited Archuleta County between July 3 and July 7.
“Even with good cellphone service, arguably, this will put it to the test, and it’s hard to get a call out,” Brown said.
Brown noted other neighboring communities experience many of the same things on a regular basis.
“I think one of the biggest challenges that we have, as I understand it, is because we’re a smaller community, we deal with fewer backhaul capabilities,” he said. “And, because of this limited resource, oftentimes we are limited to a single provider that has the ability based upon their size of the company to provide this service.”
Brown added that, unlike some of the larger communities, oftentimes the providers looking at a cell tower will request or require that there is fiber to the towers, which is not always possible and sometimes a microwave service has to be used.
“It’s limiting us, but it’s ... gradually getting better as we go down the line,” Brown said, adding there is disparity between the private partners who are looking at profit and the county, which is looking at life, health and safety. “But, I think what we’re looking for is a better marriage and partnership that we can come up with so we have more consistent and reliable service to our community.”
Bell followed by discussing Fremont County’s broadband challenges.
Salka highlighted successes within the southwest region on broadband, pointing out those successes mean telemedicine, not having to use public Internet for homework, and cell use, including calling 911.
He also further discussed cell issues in Archuleta and La Plata counties.
“I do want to stress a little bit more than what Commissioner Brown stated,” Salka said. “Archuleta County has been down three times in a matter of not just a couple hours — days — within one year, and that was due to a fiber cut in La Plata County along one of our county roads. And what does that mean? Nobody with a hard line or a cellphone was able to call 911 ... so there was no connection anywhere.”
Salka added his focus in La Plata County, as well as in working with Archuleta County and others, has been redundancy.
He further spoke about the high-speed Internet access the work is creating and the access to emergency services.
Salka also addressed concerns with 811 — the number to call to have underground utilities marked before digging.
“That is a major concern that Archuleta County and La Plata County have been working on — to be able to get in front of the [Public Utilities Commission] to be able to explain the concerns that we have,” Salka told the committee. “What happens here with Lumen/CenturyLink is that we — for the example of why Archuleta County went down — was we put in a work order to put in new guard rails along our county road. They put the call in, nobody shows up. They put the call again, nobody shows up. Then legally we’re able to proceed and move forward on that work since there was no comment on if there was a fiber connection nearby or any other type of connection. And so that proceeded and that’s what broke through the fiber line to [bring] down all of Archuleta County.”
Salka added 811 needs updates or attention “to make sure that what we have in the ground is there or not there so we can proceed doing work needed.”
Salka also noted that he is hearing from La Plata County residents about a planned cell tower, explaining that they’re concerned about the location and possible health implications, but that all he can comment on is aesthetics and location, and if a provider can prove that is the only location benefiting them for their service, there’s not much the commissioners can say.
“So, if we can give counties a little bit more of a leg to stand on to have a little bit more of a voice on cell towers ... I would really appreciate that,” he said.
Salka summed up by emphasizing the needs for redundancy and streamlining the process to get expanded fiber and other types of connections.
Redmond noted it’s interesting to live in mountainous communities where you need direct line of sight for cellphone coverage.
He relayed a time he came across a fire in the middle of Routt County and dialed 911, but was put through to a dispatch center in Moffat County.
“That is a situation that’s a problem,” he said, adding that dispatch center called the Routt County center to dispatch people to the fire.
He also suggested he’s seen signal strength drop to the point where phone calls cannot be made and that service has not kept up with phones available on the market.
He added some residents carry two phones that work with different carriers because different providers offer service in different areas of the county.
He further noted the search-and-rescue and safety implications, suggesting carriers promise service, but do not deliver.
He also echoed Bell’s sentiments about broadband service, suggesting a lack of connection can make someone a second-class citizen.
Following Redmond’s comments, the committee was able to ask questions of the panelists.
Rep. Matt Soper asked if it would be beneficial to have a liaison at the state to help develop professional relationships “to be able to try to work with local governments navigating whatever we may try to design as an incentive package to help in the future.”
Bell suggested that is exactly what Fremont County is looking for, and Brown added that he likes the suggestion, but wondered if that were to be created if there could be rural representation as well as urban representation.
Soper then noted that the committee is still in its fact-finding period and asked about what incentives could be offered, such as lowering the assessment for the business personal property tax for an area not served, which he noted would potentially affect county coffers but could help provide critical infrastructure.
Redmon suggested that might be something he would consider, but that it might have to sunset, especially given his county’s limits under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Bell suggested Fremont County would likely look at it favorably since Fremont County is doing well financially right now, but noted that there would be few businesses in those really rural areas to help “shoulder the bulk” of financing that infrastructure.
Salka agreed with the other commissioners that a sunset would be good and noted that it also depends on what the legislative session brings, as well as initiatives 50 and 108.
Committee member Kevin Klein spoke about issues with permitting with local governments and asked about how to address issues providers are having with permitting at local levels.
Salka suggested that’s something that they would need to “really dive into,” as well as the need to have a legal leg to stand on locally.
Brown added that the big call coming out of COVID was connectivity, and Archuleta County dedicated almost 50 percent of its American Rescue Plan funding to connectivity because of its importance.
“It’s not a nicety, it’s a requirement of today’s life,” he said.
He added that he would love to see the state — the Colorado Department of Transportation specifically — treat fiber and connection as a utility with regard to easements.
“We want it to work. We’ve invested greatly to make it work,” Brown added.
The committee is scheduled to meet again on Aug. 19 for a trip to Lyons and Boulder, with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Following that, the committee is expected to hold another field trip on Sept. 3 and meet again on Oct. 1.
More on the committee and its meetings can be found at https://leg.colorado.gov/committees/cell-phone-connectivity-interim-study-committee/2024-regular-session.
randi@pagosasun.com
