An Addendum to the Phase I Cultural Resources Survey Report of the Proposed GA-006 Calhoun Wireless Telecommunications Facility in Calhoun, Gordon County, Georgia

On April 27th of 2018, Environmental, Inc. performed a Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of a proposed wireless telecommunications facility for Southern Towers, LLC. to be located in Calhoun, Gordon County, Georgia (Figure A1). The lead oversight agency for the proposed project is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Prior to this field survey, background research was conducted to identify any archaeological sites and historic properties that may be located within the project’s Area of Potential Effects (Direct Effects and Visual Effects), and field investigations, which consisted of a pedestrian reconnaissance of the tower site and its associated access road easement, as well as a casual windshield survey of the surrounding area, so as to locate, identify, or revisit any archaeological sites or objects, historic standing buildings or structures, historic cemeteries, or other landscape features within the APE and assess their significance based on guidelines set forth by the National Park Service (NPS) regarding eligibility criteria for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The term “Area of Potential Effects” is defined in the FCC’s Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (Section II.A.3) as the “geographic area or areas within which an Undertaking may directly or indirectly cause alterations in the character or use of Historic Properties, if any such properties exist.” The APE for Direct Effects is comprised of the access road easement and the tower compound or lease area, as it is “limited to the area of potential ground disturbance and any property, or any portion thereof, that will be physically altered or destroyed” as defined in Section VI.C.2. The proposed project’s area of direct effect is approximately 0.5393 acres in size (tower compound 0.2296 acres / access road easement 0.3097 acres). The APE for Visual Effects, as defined in Section VI.C.3, is “the geographic area in which the Undertaking has the potential to introduce visual elements that diminish or alter the setting, including the landscape, where the setting is a character-defining feature of a Historic Property that makes it eligible for listing on the National Register.” Based on tower height guidelines set forth by the FCC Nationwide Programmatic Agreement regarding historic properties, the radius of the APE for Visual Effect was set at three quarters of a mile.

To recapitulate basic project information, the site of the proposed undertaking can be viewed on the USGS 7.5-minute Calhoun South, Georgia Topographic Quadrangle dated 1972 and revised in 1981. This site is referred to as the Calhoun GA-006 Wireless Telecommunications Facility and is to be located at 220 Porch Loop in Calhoun, Gordon County, Georgia 30701; the parcels containing the proposed undertaking are identified by the Gordon County Board of Assessor’s office as Parcel GC73 006 (0.54 acres) and GC73 007 (13.81 acres), both of which are owned by Marvin and Clarence Porch. More specifically, the proposed undertaking is in Land Lot 303, 14th District, Section 3 of Gordon County, Georgia with centerline tower coordinates of Latitude 34° 27’ 59.13” North and Longitude -084° 55’ 15.85” West with an elevation of 672.3 feet AMSL. The proposed undertaking consists of proposed 100-foot by 100-foot lease area within which is a proposed 75-foot by 75-foot compound enclosed by chain-link fence, a proposed 30-foot wide site ingress-egress & utility easement, and a proposed 20-foot by 70-foot turn-around easement. The lease area is relatively level with minimal slope to the south and is set within mixed secondary growth, predominated by pine, with a light understory (Figure A2).

The proposed access and utility easement is divided into two segments due to the east-west property line which cuts across it. Easement #1 of the proposed access and utility easement, situated in Parcel GC73 006, extends to the east-southeast from Porch Loop, utilizing an existing gravel driveway and passing directly in front of the property owner’s residence, for approximately 157 feet until reaching the treeline and lot line, with Easement #2, situated along with the turn-around easement and lease area in Parcel GC73 007, continuing eastward for approximately 169 feet at which point it turns and curves to the south for some 45 feet until reaching the 20-foot by 70-foot turnaround easement, after which is the 100-foot by 100-foot lease area. Tower lighting will be in accordance with FAA final determination. Proposed activities consist of construction of a 250-foot (260 feet with appurtenances) selfsupport lattice wireless telecommunications tower and associated 75-foot by 75-foot compound, enclosing the compound in a fence, placement of support equipment within the compound, grading an access road, and covering the compound and access road with gravel.

The aforementioned property owner’s house, which, based on the 50-year old time frame used by the NRHP for consideration for eligibility and listing, is technically a historic resource, and as this resource is immediately adjacent the APE for Direct Effects, or overlaps within it if the driveway, yard, and other domestic elements are viewed as a collective ensemble, an assessment of effects was requested by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division as per an email dated 29 May 2018. This addendum addresses the property owner’s residence at 220 Porch Loop, Calhoun, Georgia.