BRADENTON BEACH – An exterior panel fell off the cell tower in Bradenton Beach on June 15 and the tower again requires repairs and panel upgrades.
Erected in 2015 and located on property leased from the city of Bradenton Beach, the cell tower is privately owned and operated by SBA Communications.
The latest panel failure again raises concerns for city officials and Bradenton Beach Marina President Mike Bazzy. On Tuesday, June 15, Bazzy addressed his concerns in a letter sent to Mayor John Chappie and others. The letter contained photos of the recent and previous panel failures.
“I need your help. Today, a panel of the cell phone tower fell off the structure and landed on my property. The panel landed approximately 100 feet northeast of the tower. It landed on a walkway in the boatyard. Fortunately, no person was hit by the panel as it fell,” Bazzy’s letter said.
“The panels are 12 feet long and 4 feet wide. That is 50% larger than a sheet of plywood. And these objects are falling from a great height. If a panel falls from the tower and strikes a person, it will result in severe injury or death. This cell tower is a clear safety hazard to persons and property in the vicinity. We have had several near misses over the years. How long will we continue to accept this hazard?” Bazzy wrote.
Bazzy’s letter noted that in April 2015 a tower panel fell and landed on the Public Works property. Later that month, another panel fell and landed in front of the marina office. In September 2017, four panels fell off of the tower – one landed on a boat in the marina boatyard, another landed on Bazzy’s southern property line and two more landed on Church Avenue. Another past incident resulted in a tower panel landing on the roof of the Public Works building and another resulted in a panel landing on a nearby home.
Bazzy’s letter acknowledged the city doesn’t own the cell tower and is not responsible for its construction or maintenance, and that SBA carries its own liability insurance and SBA’s agreement with the city includes hold harmless language that relieves the city of liability.
“If we keep ignoring the danger the cell tower presents to residents, pedestrians, vehicles and other property, we are going to have a tragic accident on our hands at some point in the future. Please take steps to stop this from happening again, and please take strong measures to force the cell phone tower company to improve public safety,” Bazzy requested in his letter.
Commission discussion
The city commission discussed Bazzy’s concerns on Thursday, June 17.
City Attorney Ricinda Perry said she, Chappie, and Public Works Director Tom Woodard already met with SBA representative Ray Bryant to discuss this ongoing safety hazard. According to Perry, they were told hurricane tape and additional clips would be placed on the tower panels as a temporary measure.
“To which we said, ‘You’ve had over six incidents with this. Is this you spitballing an idea or is this you consulting with an engineer and coming up with an actual solution to the problem?’ ” Perry said.
She noted a similar cell tower was constructed in Anna Maria around the same time and that tower is not experiencing panel failures. She said the Bradenton Beach tower is located in an area with significant pedestrian traffic, parking tram stops, the Public Works building and the marina.
“This is unacceptable. It cannot happen again,” she said.
Perry said SBA plans to use a drone to examine the tower and have an engineer analyze the panels and installation methods.
“An engineer’s going to have to sign off on this. We can’t put up with these little fixes anymore,” Chappie said.
“It’s dangerous,” Commissioner Jake Spooner added.
Commissioner Ralph Cole said the tower components need to withstand the salt-air environment.
“There’s really no excuse for those things to fall off,” he said.
Regarding the latest failure, Woodard said, “I can look at that panel and it’s been taped back together. It’s not right.”
Woodard requested the panel that broke loose not be reattached to the tower. Woodard said another SBA representative told him the past two panel failures were the result of “installer error,” and that could have caused the latest failure too.
Perry noted the cell tower panels are supposed to be all the same color, and they are not. She said SBA is willing to make that happen.
When contacted later in the week, Woodard said he was told the tower will be equipped with white panels that will be secured with the same security bands installed on the Anna Maria tower in 2018 after that tower’s panel failure. Woodard expects it will be a couple of months before the repairs are completed.
