One of the towers at the Lowndes County Courthouse may be taken down.
The E911 board of commissioners met Tuesday and discussed ways to keep lightning from striking towers at the courthouse and disrupting the Columbus-Lowndes County E911 emergency computer system.
There are a few options available, all stemming from Lightning Eliminators and Consultants Inc., a company based in Boulder, Colo. The company can perform advanced ground impedance and resistance testing, which would determine the land”s potential for attracting lightning, Lowndes County Sheriff Butch Howard told commissioners.
“We”re going to meet again and they will give a ballpark figure to have tests run,” Howard said.
Another option is to connect spine ball ionizers to the towers. The ionizers can absorb electricity from lightning strikes and protect the towers, Howard said.
The third option is completely removing one tower and transferring all antennas to the other tower on site. Howard said discussions with the company led to the conclusion that the tower resting on top of the courthouse is useless and is “the highest one.”
“I can think of three times this year lightning has struck our towers,” he said. “It makes our computer system go down, and we have computer-operated dispatch. Then we”re operating by (the backup radio system).”
Lightning strikes also damage equipment and cause higher insurance premiums, Howard said.
The commissioners formed a committee to research ways to prevent lightning from impacting E911 services. The committee includes Howard, E911 Director Sheri Fancher, Lowndes County Administrator Ralph Billingsley and Lowndes County supervisors John Holliman and Jeff Smith.
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