Work on Coast Guard tower in Cass County put on hold

Work on the Coast Guard tower slated for McKinley Township in Cass County has temporarily been put on hold according to a Minnesota Department of Transportation news release issued Friday.

The suspension of activity on the Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System tower was implemented at the request of Rep. Larry Howes, R-Walker. Howes met with MnDOT official and asked the state agency to conduct a review for any decommissioned, unused or abandoned tower sites within the tower's requirement of a 40-mile radius of Brainerd.

The review is under way and the results of any new potential sites for the tower should be available by April 13. Any potential locations will be reviewed by MnDOT and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Rep. Howes also asked that, should a tower be erected, that MnDOT and the Coast Guard consider changing the lighting to a two-tiered red light configuration instead of the currently proposed one white light at the top of the tower.