County to get Mount Aeneas testing permit

The Forest Service is in the process of issuing Flathead County a permit to begin testing radio communication capabilities from Mount Aeneas.

Flathead County officials have long complained that emergency signal service in the valley is spotty, at best, in and around Bigfork, Somers and Lakeside. The county sees an antenna on Mount Aeneas as a potential solution to the problem.

The Forest Service agreed to issue a permit last week, Flathead National Forest Public Affairs Specialist Wade Muehlhof said. Getting the permit issued is a process that could take at least a week to complete.

County Sheriff Chuck Curry said the county emergency service officials met with Forest Service officials last Thursday to confirm that the permit would be issued.

“It’s been a long process,” Curry said.

Once the permit is issued, Flathead County Emergency Services can put a test repeater in the building on top of Mount Aeneas that is owned by Optimum. Optimum has a special use permit with the Forest Service and has already agreed to let the county use the site.

Flathead County Emergency Services and the Forest Service have worked together since last spring to come up with a solution to the problem.

Both agencies tested other sites around the valley. One of the sites was Swan Hill, located a couple miles outside of Bigfork, which houses various commercial radio and television broadcast antennas.

But the county said communication signals from the site didn’t provide full coverage of the areas in question.

In February, emergency officials put a temporary repeater two-thirds of the way up Mount Aeneas from Camp Misery to help with radio communication during an avalanche search in Jewel Basin. Snow conditions prevented a repeater from being placed on top of the mountain.

According to County Fire Service Area Manager Lincoln Chute, the temporary repeater provided “full communication” among the various emergency and law enforcement agencies involved in the Feb. 1 and 2 effort.

Curry said the county will have about a year to test the site and determine its effectiveness, but he doesn’t think they will need that long.

“I will know, I think, within a few weeks whether or not it will be the site I think it will be,” Curry said.