And Then the Government Intervened

Well, things were going a little too well, and the project was moving along as a good clip.  The hole is completely dug.

Perhaps a little too well.  I was doing some extensive reading on tower erection and care and realized that I'd better check the county building regulations to see if I needed a building permit for the tower.  It turns out in Benton County that anything that's over 10' tall requires a building permit.  I could have just proceeded with the project and hoped nobody would notice.  I decided to take the high road instead and notify the proper authorities so it could be done right.  That way I wouldn't have to tear it down later when someone noticed it didn't have a permit.

So, since the airport is outside of the City of Corvallis limits, I enquired at the Benton County building department, and they informed me that they had an intergovernmental agreement with the City such that I would have to get a permit from the City of Corvallis.  This was something I was hoping to avoid.

I journeyed to the City's planning department to figure out what the deal was, and was told that I would have to get approval from the airport manager before they would do anything.  I drove out to City of Corvallis Public Works where the airport manager lives and had a productive conversation with him.  He has been the most helpful and painless piece of this process so far.

Then I contacted the person in the city planning department.  To their credit they have been responsive and helpful via e-mail.  The major problem right now is that they have decided that the stock Rohn drawings aren't enough to get a building permit.  I have to now go to a local civil engineer and get a set of plans in triplicate.  This promises to be costly.

The second problem they have is that the tower may be too close to the property line.  They're concerned that if the tower were to fall it would fall across the property line.  I could understand their concern if this were in the city limits, or if we had any significant neighbors.  The truth of the matter is that on both sides that matter, there is farmland, and there would be no impact if the tower were to fall.

So, we're currently derailed with governmental building requirements.  I'm hoping that I can get through all of the red tape before monsoon season starts here in Oregon and construction will be problematic.