Board Urges Radar Tower Repair Delay

At the urging of a group of angry Upper Ojai residents, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday calling on the National Weather Service to delay upgrades of its radar tower until the conclusion of a legislative debate in Washington about the future of the equipment.

“We’ve been removed entirely from having a say,” said Supervisor Kathy Long. “We ask that you don’t move ahead with the upgrade until you have a full understanding of the cost.”

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) is pushing federal legislation that would require the Weather Service to move the tower from Sulphur Mountain.

National Weather Service officials said work on the upgrade will begin as planned Sept. 27, despite the board’s request.

Since the structure’s installation in 1993, a vocal group of residents has pushed to have the 98-foot-tall Nexrad radar tower relocated, complaining that the elevated sphere is an eyesore and might pose long-term side effects. They fear that further investment could mean the tower will never be removed.

The proposed $190,000 upgrade includes replacing a storage trailer with a more permanent, prefabricated 12-by-24-foot metal and stucco building, and adding a transitional power source so the radar isn’t disabled when power outages force the system to rely on a generator.

The Weather Service is upgrading all 150 of its radar towers across the country.

Supervisor Judy Mikels, who voted for the resolution, cautioned residents to take the expected upgrade in stride.

“I quite frankly believe the tower will be relocated,” she said. “But as long as we’re stuck with it, I would suggest we not get terribly upset if the upgrade happens.”

The Board of Supervisors has twice adopted resolutions asking that the National Weather Service move the tower.

The National Weather Service argued at the session that the tower is necessary to warn Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties of impending flash floods. The nearest other towers, at Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc and in Santa Ana, couldn’t adequately cover the region, said Todd Morris, the Weather Service’s chief meteorologist in the Los Angeles area.

Weather Service officials described their attendance at Tuesday’s meeting as merely informational. They said that work on the tower would last through mid-October. They also noted that electromagnetic energy emitted from the tower is far below the level that might cause harm.

Despite such assurances from the Weather Service, Ojai residents said they are still worried about their safety in the shadow of the tower.

“This community has become very circumspect about government,” said Larry Hagman, the former “Dallas” actor, who has fought the tower for the last six years. “This is going to go on for years.”