MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. (WTAQ) - The Plan Commission in Mount Pleasant will decide Wednesday whether a 10-year-old boy will have to take down his ham radio tower, just days after he won a heroism award for using it. Samm Markstrom was honored by the county’s Volunteer Center, for telling the National Weather Service in Sullivan about a rare winter tornado that hit nearby Kenosha last January.
But village officials say 2 residents complained that the 62 foot tower interferes with telephone and TV reception – and officials later learned the family never got the proper zoning approval to put it up. Samm’s father Jim Markstrom said he’s confused – because all their closest neighbors supported the tower, and a contractor assured him that all the required permits were obtained back in 2007.
Samm has cerebral palsy, and his family says he gets a tremendous boost of confidence in using the ham radio. They said his biggest thrill is to meet new people. The Markstroms are trying to work out an agreement with Mount Pleasant officials. But the proposal would reduce the tower’s height to 35 feet – not high enough to pass on weather bulletins like the one for which Samm was honored. Ironically, the issue’s coming up during Wisconsin’s Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week.
