Supervisors authorize new Rainbow Heights radio tower, shelter

The Sheriff's Department operates a radio facility at Rainbow Heights, but the tower and equipment shelter are now more than 30 years old and no longer support the communications system. On May 2, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to authorize a construction contract to replace the radio tower, equipment shelter, and generator.

"During an emergency every second counts," said Supervisor Bill Horn. "Replacing the radio site at Rainbow Heights will ensure that first responders continue to receive reliable communications support when they need it most."

In January 1986, the county and the Rainbow Municipal Water District entered into a 50-year lease allowing the installation and Sheriff's Department operation of a radio communications facility adjacent to the Rainbow Heights water tank. A 40-foot steel tower, a metal equipment shelter, and a backup generator were installed adjacent to the water tank. The site provides conventional radio communications and is not part of the Regional Communications System. which was established in 1995.

The tower and shelter have reached the end of their useful service life and are no longer able to support the communications system. The replacement work will include demolition and proper disposal of the existing tower, generator, and a metal container which is being used as an equipment shelter. A 40-foot self-supporting tower will be constructed, a county-owned concrete equipment shelter will be repurposed and moved to the Rainbow Heights location after a radio site elsewhere in the county is decommissioned, and a new 25-kilowatt generator will complement the tower and equipment. A new concrete pad will be installed to host the tower, equipment shelter, and generator.

The estimated cost for the project is $325,000, and the supervisors' action also included appropriating that amount. The adopted motion also found the project to be categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review.

Construction is expected to begin in November 2017, and the completion is scheduled for January 2018.