In April 2022, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed self-support, lattice telecommunications tower located in Byron, Houston County, GA (Latitude: 32° 37’ 26.17” Longitude: 83° 42’ 35.18”). The proposed project is located within a wooded area.
Tillman Infrastructure, LLC proposes to construct a 195-foot (59.4-meter) self-support, lattice telecommunications tower with an overall height of 220 feet (67.1 meters) including all appurtenances, and associated ground-based equipment within a 100 x 100-foot (30.5 x 30.5-meter) cell tower lease area. The project includes a 30-foot-wide (9.1-meter-wide) access and utility easement that will extend approximately 130 feet (39.6 meters) east from the lease area to connect to US Highway 41. Additionally, the proposed access and utility easement will utilize an existing concrete drive that is located directly north and east of the lease area. Total acreage of the new construction area is approximately 0.32 acres (0.13 hectare).
Senior Project Archaeologist, Danielle Young, 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 present to archaeological and architectural cultural resources. The Phase I cultural resource survey was designed to discover all precontact 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, yielded no evidence for the presence of archaeological or architectural properties within the Direct APE for the current project. Additionally, based on a map and survey form search using the resources of the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office GNAHRGIS GIS platform, inspections of the Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF 2022), as well as resources of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) conducted by Danielle Young, M.A., RPA, Senior Project Archaeologist of Trileaf Corporation on March 25, 2022, identified no NRHP-listed or NRHP-eligible historical resources located within the ¾-mile Visual APE. A review of archaeological sites and surveys, conducted by the GASF on March 25, 2022, identified one (1) previously recorded archaeological site (9PE33), and six (6) previously recorded archaeological surveys (63, 4046, 4910, 4988, 11651, 12106) within a 1-mile radius of the proposed project area.
Based on these findings, Trileaf recommends No Historic Properties within the Direct APE and No Historic Properties within the ¾-mile Visual APE. It is therefore recommended that project clearance be granted with no further investigation or evaluation of the project area.
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