A Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed GA5044 Thomaston Wireless Telecommunications Facility in Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia

At the request of TVT II, LLC., Environmental, Inc. performed a Phase I Cultural Resources Survey (CRS) for the proposed GA 5044 Thomaston Wireless Telecommunications Facility to be located near Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia on 11 December 2022. The FCC is the lead oversight agency, and as such this project is subject to review under NEPA and the NHPA, specifically Section 106. The Phase I survey and assessment, following the guidelines set forth in the FCC’s Nationwide Programmatic Agreement, entailed the following aims and objectives: 1) Define the project’s Direct and Visual Area of Potential Effects (APE); 2) Identify any archaeological sites or historic properties within the APE for Direct Effects via a field reconnaissance utilizing both visual inspection and subsurface testing; 3) Identify any archaeological sites or historic properties, as well as previous cultural resource surveys, within the APE for Visual Effects via research utilizing the files and databases of the state SHPO and other appropriate agencies, as well as available aerial photographs and historical records and maps; 4) Review and compile contextual data concerning the project area’s physiography, geology, soils, prior land use, and cultural history; 5) To evaluate the significance of any archaeological sites or historic properties identified, including those historic resources identified during the field reconnaissance (inadvertent discovery), within the guidelines and criteria for establishing eligibility for the NRHP; and 6) To assess the effects of the project (the undertaking) on any identified historic properties.

The project site consists of the replacement of two guyed towers with a lattice self-support tower within a fenced compound and a proposed access road easement. The site of the tower slopes gently downward to the north before moderately to steeply descending the mountain along an existing access road that has not been used for a number of years. The site consists of forested land with hardwood trees ranging from 3 to 8 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) and a moderately dense understory. The proposed access easement extends west-southwest then northwest from Day Road approximately 300 feet along an existing gravel road and then continues south and northwest across a powerline easement and forested land for an additional 1,150 feet to the site. Proposed activities consist of removing the two guyed towers and the two fallen-in and abandoned equipment shelters, construction of a 250-foot (258 feet with appurtenances) self-supporting telecommunications tower with associated compound, enclosing the compound in fencing, placement of support equipment within the compound, grading a portion of the access road, and covering the compound and access road with gravel.

The APE for Direct Effects consists of an approximate square fenced compound of around 100 feet to a side for an area of approximately 0.23 acres while the proposed 30-foot-wide access road easement, at approximately 1,400 feet long, has an area of approximately 0.97 acres, for a total of 1.2 acres. 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. Probability was considered low in terms of both prehistoric and historic material being present, largely due to its upland location, steep terrain, and the great distance to a water source. For the most part, the project site has been negatively impacted from prior timber/clearcutting activity, severe erosion, and power line and communications tower construction, severely lessening the potential for encountering any intact cultural deposits. The proposed access road easement leaves the right-of-way of Day Road to the west, traversing a rear residential yard addressed at 775 Day Road, then begins to ascend, traversing a power line easement and then the forested slope of Indian Grave Mountain. The proposed access easement utilizes, for the most part, an existing dirt road or trail, which has apparently been in existence at least since the early 1950s where it can be discerned on an aerial photograph from 1951. Along the lower segments of the access easement are automobiles and other associated material, metal washtubs, and various sundry items. The access road is steep, with several sharp turns to negotiate the terrain; this road has not been used for some time, judging from the felled trees and deep gullies. The project site and its immediate vicinity has served as a general location for the placement of communications and microwave transmission towers due to its elevation atop Indian Grave Mountain since the 1960s, when the nearby microwave tower was built, followed by the guyed towers, now proposed for replacement, in the 1970s. Ground surface visibility around the old tower compound and the nearby new tower site was poor to fair, largely due to the ground cover and leaf litter, though there were some areas of exposed ground. A total of six shovel tests were excavated, four in the general proximity of the new tower site and two near the lower segment of the access road easement. All of the shovel tests exhibited remarkably consistent soil profiles, generally comprised of 8 to 12centimeters of gravelly grayish brown to dark grayish-brown sandy loam underlain by gravelly yellowish-brown sandy clay loam, often with large gravels or cobbles. All shovel tests were negative for cultural material; visual inspection of all exposed ground surfaces in the immediate area also did not yield any cultural material.

The background research phase of the project did not identify any National Historic Landmarks or NRHP-listed or NRHP eligible properties as being within the ¾ mile Visual APE of the proposed undertaking, nor did a query of the GNAHRGIS database return any historic resources as being in or near the Visual APE. Thus, in consideration of the collective results of the literature and document review, the field survey and evaluation, and overall project assessment, it is the opinion of Environmental, Inc., that the proposed GA 5044 Thomaston Wireless Telecommunications Facility will not affect any known or significant cultural resources and recommends a finding of No Properties.