hdradioeng, thank you for shedding light on this topic.
There are a few LPFMs across the nation that network and work together to respond to their audiences. It is all too rare. The typical station, LPFM or otherwise, tends to act like the lone wolf. Radio in general could do much more with more cooperation. Have you ever worked a station with more than enough staff? Most stations, even commercial stations, have staffs with heavy workloads that wish they had another person or two to do more.
Many LPFMs got stuck just getting on the air before their CP expired. The philosophy is something is better than nothing. Frequently the leased tower space was just too costly and building codes and other options were at the mercy of others not connected to the station. It is easy to say 'rent from a landowner' or ask to go on somebody's roof. It's always easily said but difficult to pull off. In my case I spent 18 months trying to get on a town water tower. After the city gave the OK, the Parks Board rejected it. The reason was the water tower was on city land designated as a park and the board comprised of citizen volunteers could make a decision contrary to the city council and the city council was obligated to abide by the Park Board's decision. By then, with a CP extension, the two potential leased towers were so costly it was not an option. Anyway, neither leased option allowed us to go on the tower at the desired height. The only option was a tower under 50 feet below positive height above terrain at the home of a board member, if neighbors approved. Plainly put, the coverage would have been so minimal, we dropped the project altogether. We found nobody willing to allow a roof install nor a landowner willing to say yes. Actually one landowner said yes but about a month later his family did not like the idea and he explained his situation. We thanked him and moved on. In his case the land had been in the family for generations.
Stations like WULB start with less than they could be and struggle more to reach that spot they should have been on day one if everything worked out. Hopefully in time with the diminished coverage they call rally the support to go to 100 feet. My heart is with them on this struggle. With a bit of hard work and smart plan they can see that happen. LPFM already has a tough road to travel, so a smaller reach surely makes it more tough.
I want to point out, one tower company I dealt with required us to hire their people for the install. The quote we got was pricey enough to diminish our funds. I felt we were pretty well funded: cash for all equipment, paying the engineer and a full year's operating cost aside. Hiring their crew to travel to the area was going to run about 5 times the cost of my engineer and the folks and equipment he had to rent. I admit I know the engineer at got the 'friend's price'. It was sort of like something I faced in childhood: was it better to have money in my pocket or buy a wallet for my money even if there was no money to put in the wallet after I bought it. So, we could afford the tower lease but not their 4 man crew stationed 250 miles away that was required to go on the tower in the first place. If my engineer had been allowed to do the work, we would have been fine. I understand the tower company's position: there had been injuries and deaths and a few sites had been torn up by independent crews, so they made you use their guys.
