Grand Forks County Commission Modifies Special Use Permit for Vantis Radar Tower

July 19 – GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks County Commission has amended the special permit for a proposed Vantis 110-foot unmanned aircraft radar system.

The Commision

had approved the permit during its meeting on Tuesday

but decided to reconsider the permit after questions were raised about the potential impact of radar and interactions with GrandSky and Grand Forks Air Force Base. The amended permit now includes language to include GrandSky and the Air Force Base and to provide the County Commission with regular updates.

“We were probably a little premature in submitting this application without properly socializing it with the appropriate stakeholders at the beginning of this process,” said Trevor Woods, Vantis’ executive director. “I recognize and understand the county’s prerogative to understand what this tower is going to be used for and we have no problem discussing and analyzing that.”

Obtaining this special permit is necessary for Vantis to begin discussions with the Federal Communication Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration for approval of the radar. While the county approves the permit for the tower, the federal government gives the actual approval for the radar, which will include public input and would already bring in the Air Force Base and GrandSky.

“This piece of technology is important to the Northern Plains UAS Test Site because this is a similar radar that is used by the (Department of Defense) today for many of their missions and operations,” said Erin Roesler, Director of Operations at Vantis. “So the security aspects of this interest have been well researched and have not raised any concerns with the DOD to date.”

Vantis is working with Thales and Terma on their work on UAS monitoring systems. Thales’ parent company is based in France and Terma is based in the Netherlands. Their technologies are already in use at other locations in North Dakota, near Williston and Watford City.

The proposed tower would be located in Allendale Township, near the intersection of 15th Street Northeast and 10th Avenue Northeast. The tower would be seven miles southwest of Grand Forks and four miles northwest of Thompson. The city has approved a special permit for the tower.

Vantis specializes in air traffic control and radar systems for UAS technologies. It is part of

the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, one of seven Federal Aviation Administration

testing in the county. Northern Plains was created as a place to develop UAS technology to minimize the impact on general and commercial aviation.

The commission also approved a contract with Propio Language Services for the county Tax Equalization Office. The company provides translation and interpretation services and already serves the correctional center and Northeast Human Services. Tax Equalization Director Amber Guajtes said it will help her office process marriage licenses more easily for non-English speakers. Recently, the office has had a language barrier in serving these clients and Guajtes said this will help her office better serve those seeking services from her office.