Fentress About Halfway Complete With Pall Mall Radio Tower Upgrades

Fentress County’s new Pall Mall radio tower about halfway complete with its upgrades.

County Executive Jimmy Johnson said the county had previously made an agreement with Byrdstown to use its water tower. He said they ended up having to go a different route when they realized the system would be too high.

“About probably another 100 or 150 feet in the air when you got on top of the water tower on top of the mountain,” Johnson said. “So this is going work out really well it sure is.”

Johnson said the county will contribute 60 percent, the E-911 Department 35 percent, and the school board will cover the remaining. He said that once the equipment is upgraded and new pieces purchased, they will have five communications towers in total across the county

Johnson said that it’s been about 25 years since the last update to the whole system. He said that with all of the mountains and valleys in the county, it’s created issues for open communication.

“So you might be able to talk as long as you’re on top of the mountain, but then you get down into the valley there is a hard time receiving calls,” Johnson said. “And it really was a dangerous situation. If you’re there and you need some help or you can’t get to them, or someone’s hurt and you can’t get it out on your radio.”

Johnson said they hope to complete upgrades within the next two months.