New police tower project wins approval

A new 80-foot tower on the northwest corner of the Decorah Law Enforcement Center will solve a number of issues with the police department's communications system, says Decorah Police Chief Bill Nixon.

Nixon told Decorah City Council members Monday night that the existing police communications system uses telephone lines to link to the KVIK tower on Highway 9 West--and that moisture in those telephone lines can create outages or other problems.

A microwave dish will be put on the new tower, allowing line-of-sight connection to the KVIK tower.  Nixon says the hook-up will also save the city some $500 a month in telephone costs.

Monday night the Decorah City Council gave its unanimous approval to the project, which will be paid with money raised throgh the 9-1-1 charges on telpehone bills.