In April 2019, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed self-support tower telecommunication facility located in Irwin County, Ocilla, Georgia (Latitude: 31° 28’ 29.83” Longitude: 83° 07’ 16.31”). The project location is located within a wooded area.
Verizon Wireless proposes the construction of a new self-support cell tower with a total height of 199 feet (60.7 meters). The new tower and associated equipment will be situated within a proposed approximate 100 x 100-foot (30.5 x 30.5 meter) cell tower lease area. A proposed approximate 30 x 100-foot (9.1 x 30.5 meter) access and utility easement will travel northeast linking the lease area to Holt Road. Total acreage of the new construction area is approximately 0.30 acres (0.12 Hectares).
Senior Project Archaeologist Zach Horne, M.A., RPA, under the direction of Trileaf, performed this survey in response to the planned use of the above-described parcel and the potential impacts that such use might represent to archaeological and architectural cultural resources. The Phase I cultural resource survey was designed to discover all prehistoric and historical period cultural resources that might be present within the project area.
The field survey of the project area, which included a pedestrian survey, shovel testing, and visual inspection, found no evidence for the presence of archaeological or architectural properties in relation to the current project area’s Direct APE. Additionally, no National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)-eligible or listed properties were identified within the project areas Direct APE. Based on a map and survey form search using the resources of the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office including topographical maps and their GNAHRGIS GIS platform, inspections of the Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF 2019), as well as the resources of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) conducted by Zach Horne, Senior Project Archaeologist of the Trileaf Corporation and Kevin McHugh, CEO of Architectural Research LLC, there were three (3) architectural resources identified during the field survey (Lax Baptist Church, The Wingate House, and the Lax Holiness Church and Cemetery), with no prior NRHP determination of eligibility identified within the ½-mile APE for visual effects, no archaeological sites, and one (1) archaeological survey (10313) previously identified within the ½-mile background research radius.
Based on a review of the historic resources, Trileaf recommends No Historic Properties within the APE for Direct and Visual Effects. It is therefore recommended that project clearance be granted with no further investigation or evaluation of the project area relative to those resources.
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