The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 19

Ty QQUfHfY FOCUS Saturday, February 12, 2000 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Send comments and tips through e-mail to: fehrlichtampatrib.com FRED EHRLICH, Brandon Editor, (813) 685-4581 Brandon fax, (813) 643-6844 ri Serving all of southern eastern Hillsborough A- oann he sky w. JIM rm-i-M The latest addition to an "antenna farm" is a digital tower thafs licensed to grow to 1,649 feet ROBERT BURKETribune photos Workers, left, add sections to a $5 million digital television tower to be shared by WEDU and WUSF-TV. It's the latest addition to what's known as the "antenna farm," below. Above, a silver dollar was placed under the bottom of the tower for good luck. Si rf -1 Vtf Jsr sss jfc-JK mmrz "4 vf i 0 4 1' By SUSAN M.

GREEN of The Tampa Tribune RIVERVIEW Tampa Bay's two public television stations got just what they wanted for the holidays a new tower capable of broadcasting the most sophisticated signal yet invented to about 2 million viewers. But, of course, like any great Christmas gift, there's some assembly required. Lots of meticulous assembly. The steel frame sprawled in sections across a field on Boyette Road since late November may look like pieces from a giant erector set But when it's all put together sometime later this month, if the weather holds it will stand taller than New York's World Trade Center, and just shy of the nation's tallest building, the Sears Tower in Chicago. Frank Wolynski, chief engineer for WEDU, Channel 3, has been in on the construction from the ground floor, starting with the early planning stages in 1996.

He has no plans to see it from the top. "I'm averse to heights," he confessed. "But I can look at them all day long." The new $5 million digital television tower, to be shared by WEDU and WUSF-TV, Channel 16, is the latest addition to what Riverview residents call the "antenna farm." When completed, it will stand 1,505 feet from the ground to the tower's top, and 1,580 feet above sea level. The tower is licensed to grow to 1,649 feet. That's comparable to other towers built in the area during the last 15 years, but considerably taller than the old, 900-foot-tall WUSF tower, built in 1966 just up the road, near the Boyette Springs subdivision.

Engineers have determined that the old tower won't support the equipment needed for the public television stations to broadcast signals for high-definition television. WEDU has been transmitting its traditional analog signal from the tower of WTOG, Channel 44, for nine years. But with the conversion to high-definition television, that station's tower will not be able to accommodate the equipment needed for WEDU to broadcast a digital signal as well, said Mike t. Kin- wm-. ssfeli I 1 1 ilh lif Mum-amnmJ y' li'titol Sr, rtimrtui mmi mmnrmwrm iff Sri I rfj HUbtKi BUHit inoune pnoios rrom tagie a i.

I it Hatfield, a WEDU maintenance engineer. So WEDU teamed up with its public television counterpart to build a new tower. The two stations hope to begin broadcasting' digital signals in October, after a transmitter building goes up. If that happens, the stations will be running well ahead of the 2003 deadline set by the federal government for public television to convert to the digital signal. WEDU will own, operate and maintain the tower, while WUSF-TV will have the right to use it for the lifetime of the project and receive a share of revenues from renting space on the structure for other antennae.

The two stations have attracted nearly $2 million in federal, state and private grants for the project and will seek more funding through ad- ditional grants, bank loans and contributions. Other towers going up in the area include WTVT, Channel 13, which is building on a Boyette Road site just east of Rhodine Road. American Tower, a company building a broadcast station with hopes of attracting customers, has a site on Rhodine Road. All are being built by Kline Iron Steel Co. Inc.

of Columbia, S.C. The WEDU project broke ground in late November. Already the job has included digging a hole 70 feet deep and 10 feet wide and filling it with concrete reinforced by a metal frame to anchor the pedestal that will bear about a million See SKY, Page 4 Tower tidbits Purpose: To beam digital signals to television sets equipped to offer high-definition viewing. Cost: $5 million Height: 1,505 feet above ground, or 1,580 feet above sea level. Permitted to stand 1,649 feet high.

Sections: Each 30-foot steel section weighs 5 tons to 1 1 tons. Anchors: Concrete-filled holes 1 0 feet wide and 55 feet deep. Guy wires: 21 tempered-steel cables 2 inches thick and ranging to 2,000 feet long will secure the tower. Sources: WEDU, Channel 3, and Kline Iron Steel Co. Inc.

Mike Hatfield, a WEDU maintenance engineer, oversees construction. The two stations hope to begin broadcasting digital signals In October. 2 lanes for Gornto Lake extension to be restudied Since 1981, county road and land planners have envisioned Gornto Lake as a four- to five-lane divided thoroughfare from Brandon TownCenter south to U.S. 301. The road was supposed to be built by those developing the land within the corridor.

Each was required to donate right-of-way for the road and build at least two lanes to offset paying impact fees. Building lagged, leaving the two-lane portion in the Sterling Ranch subdivision for years as the only built segment south of Causeway Boulevard. But Richard Mulholland has built four lanes through most of his Lake Brandon project south of Causeway, narrowing to two lanes as it nears Sterling Ranch. BRANDON Sterling Ranch residents hope the Gornto Lake extension can be kept at two lanes to keep their children safer and raise property values. By TOM BRENNAN of The Tampa Tribune It was supposed to be a hearing about moving the Gornto Lake extension a few yards to the west Instead, a unanimous county commission agreed to re-examine the basic premise of the plan that the new road has to be four lanes.

"It is wonderful that they are considering changing to two lanes," said Christina Whisenand, a Sterling Ranch resident "The impact of four lanes would be so detrimental." Tampa Eastshore Ltd. agreed Tuesday to build two lanes north of Bloomingdale Avenue to within 800 feet of Sterling Ranch. Its attorney said it will sell the county the land for an additional two lanes. Now, commissioners want to know whether the additional lanes will be needed. They ordered a hearing to be held within the next six weeks at which their staff and that of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, the county's long-range transportation planning board, could explain the reason for four lanes.

Commissioners said they wanted to know why two lanes wouldn't work and what commitments the county has made that would force keeping four. Sterling ranch residents have been lobbying for such a hearing for the past year. But they have been told repeatedly the decision had been made and that they should focus on traffic control devices like stop signs and traffic signals. Residents are optimistic Tuesday's vote could derail plans for four lanes. "It appears they are receptive to the idea that the community is already there and the road isn't," Whisenand said.

Kathleen Taylor, president of the Sterling Ranch homeowners association, was also cautiously optimistic. "I am hopeful, I think they listened," she said. Residents repeated their concerns that a four-lane See GORNTO, Page 4.