In August 2022, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed guyed telecommunications tower located in Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia (Latitude: 32° 35’ 25.96” Longitude: 82° 27’ 50.31”). The proposed project is located within a wooded area.
Tillman Infrastructure, LLC proposes to construct a 310-foot guyed telecommunications tower with an overall height of 335 feet and associated equipment in a 50 x 50-foot (15.2 x 15.2-meter) fenced compound within a 100 x 100-foot (30.5 x 30.5-meter, 10,000-square-foot) lease area. The project includes an access and utility easement, measuring 30 feet wide (9.1 meters wide), containing a 12-foot (6.1-meter) gravel drive, extending approximately 362 feet (110.3 meters) generally northwest away from the lease area towards Boiling Springs Church Road. Additionally, there are three (3), 30-footwide proposed guy wire easements extending approximately 284 feet (86.6 meters) generally north, eastsoutheast, and southwest. The proposed access and utility easement, guywire easements, and proposed tower compound lease area are located within wooded land. Total acreage of the new construction area is approximately 1.1 acres (0.43 hectare).
Senior Project Archaeologist, Danielle Young, 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 on August 12, 2022, by Danielle Young, M.A., RPA, Senior Project Archaeologist at Trileaf Corporation, no NRHP-eligible or NRHP-listed resources were identified within the Direct APE or the ¾-mile Visual APE. A review of archaeological sites and surveys, conducted by GASF on August 29, 2022, identified no archaeological sites and two (2) previously recorded archaeological surveys (9106, 10843) within a 1-mile radius of the project location.
Based on these findings, Trileaf recommends NoHistoric Properties within the Direct APE and NoHistoric 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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