MANTI—The Manti City Council continued a discussion of a proposal to permit an AT&T cell tower on city land and also heard about an ambitious plan for summer road work at its last meeting on March. 9.
In February, a representative from a cell-tower construction company told the council AT&T was interested in installing an 80-foot tower on city land east of 800 East next to a city water tank.
The representative said AT&T would build the tower and then deed the structure to the city, with the proviso that AT&T could station its equipment on the tower for a timeframe to be defined in a contract.
However, the representative said there would be room on an 80-foot tower for at least two other telecommunication transmitters. The representative suggested the city could lease space on the tower to other companies and receive monthly or annual lease payments.
The representative from the cell-tower construction firm also brought up the option of extending the tower from 80 to 100 feet, which would open up as many as eight sites for leasing.
At the March 9 meeting, Kent Barton, city manager, said he wanted to explore partnering with AT&T on a 100-foot tower.
He projected a photo of the site AT&T was requesting. It is a plateau where other towers are poles are presently located, including a pole Manti Telecommunication uses for providing internet services; one owned by InfoWest, an internet service provide based in Richfield and St. George; and one Manti City itself uses in connection with wireless meter reading.
“The visual part of it, that’s not an issue for me,” Barton said. He said the present poles blend into the mountain background and are hardly noticeable from a distance. He expected the AT&T tower to do the same.
The council directed Barton to continue looking into the cell tower and particularly to check on the experience of other cities that have hosted such towers.
Cory Hatch, public works director, presented a map showing locations where he plans road resurfacing this summer. He also plans to have his crew build two new road segments. The work would cover 4 miles, with a projected budget of $100,000 to $150,000.
In the past couple of years, Hatch and his staff have resurfaced designated streets from one end to the other. They plan to follow that same model this year.
They plan to chip-seal 200 and 300 East from 600 South to 400 North. They will also chip-seal a road segment that runs along Manti Creek from 320 to 400 East; a segment at about 450 East running from 400 to 500 South; and two blocks of 500 East from 100 South to 100 North in the vicinity of the Manti Stake Center. (See map.)
Chip-sealing is putting down a layer of asphalt, which fills and seals any cracks in the road. Then a layer of “aggregate” (small rocks) is dropped on top of the asphalt. Then the aggregate is pressed into the asphalt with a heavy roller. After a day or two, any loose aggregate is swept away leaving a new surface.
Besides the chip-sealing, the public works crew plans to put down an Onyx coat on two new subdivision roads, one to the north and one to the east of the stake center. Onyx is an asphalt emulsion designed to toughen and protect newer roads to reduce the amount of maintenance they will need.
The first of the two new roads will run along 400 East from 300 or 400 South, while the other runs 500 East from 300 to 400 South.
The city council has also been discussing installing a columbarium in the Manti City Cemetery. A columbarium is a structure with compartments that can hold cremated remains. Presently, the only option for families wanting to place cremated remains in the cemetery is to purchase a full burial lot.
Hatch reported on a visit to Tonaquint Cemetery in St. George and the Washington City Cemetery in Washington County, where he looked at a columbaria and surrounding gardens.
“I thought they (the columbaria) were a great idea,” Hatch said. “I felt they added a lot to the cemetery. We do have a few places in our cemetery where I think it would work.”
Hatch said people come into the city offices almost daily, many from out of town, seeking to purchase plots in the Manti cemetery.
The council has been looking at a columbarium as one element in a strategy to keep the cemetery from running out of space too quickly.
After hearing Hatch’s presentation, the city council approved a motion directing Councilwoman Mary Wintch, the first person to bring up the columbarium, along with the city staff, to develop a plan of action for installing such a structure in the Manti City Cemetery.
