Property dispute puts Elk County 9-1-1 tower on hold

ELK COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – A property dispute over a communication tower in Elk County has left the county trying to find somewhere else to build a permanent tower.

The Brawand family said that Elk County has been using the tower on their property for about 12 years without paying them to use the land. Additionally, the family said that they only recently started paying the electric bill.

“This has been going on where they’ve tried to take our property for public use without negotiating with us,” property owner Sam Brawand said.

The family said they reached out to the County for months about signing a lease to stay on the property but the County never responded, so they were evicted out of the original location.

“We told them that they had no right to be there. They could stay, but they would be getting a lease if they wanted to remain,” Brawand said. “So they had 8 months to contact us, and never did. Never heard a word from anyone. Not a peep.”

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Now, the County has put a temporary tower up on the neighbors property. However, the Brawand family said they own the mineral lease too and that the County has to use the roads that lead to their gas and oil wells to get to the tower.

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