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                           Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                   )     File Number EB-02-AT-291
                                                            )
Small Town Radio, Inc.             )    NAL/Acct. No.200332480007
Licensee of WDGR(AM), Dahlonega,   )
GA                                 )             FRN 0005-0483-35
Alpharetta, GA                     )


           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

                                      Released: November 13, 2002


By the Enforcement Bureau, Atlanta Office:


                        I.  INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this  Notice of  Apparent Liability  for  Forfeiture 
(``NAL''), we find Small Town Radio, Inc. (``Small Town Radio''), 
licensee of  WDGR(AM), Dahlonega,  GA,  apparently liable  for  a 
forfeiture in the  amount of fifteen  thousand dollars  ($15,000) 
for willful and repeated violation of Sections 73.49 and 11.35(a) 
of the Commission's  Rules (``Rules'').1   Specifically, we  find 
Small Town  Radio  apparently  liable  for  failure  to  maintain 
operational  emergency  alert  system  (``EAS'')  equipment   and 
failure to maintain an effective locked fence around the base  of 
the antenna tower for Radio Station WDGR(AM).


                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2.   On October  21,  2003,  an agent  of  the  Commission's 
Atlanta Field Office inspected the fence surrounding the base  of 
the antenna tower  of radio  station WDGR(AM).   The agent  found 
that the gate  of the fence  was opened and  that several  boards 
were missing from the fence  allowing unrestricted access to  the 
base of the antenna  structure.  During a telephone  conversation 
with Don Boyd, President of Small  Town Radio, Mr. Boyd told  the 
agent that he was  aware of the fencing  problem and that he  had 
intended to have the fence fixed.

     3.   That same day,  the agent inspected  the station's  EAS 
equipment.  The station had  a Sage EAS  ENDEC, however the  unit 
was not connected to any receivers and was unable to monitor  the 
two required EAS sources.  There were no EAS logs at the  station 
to demonstrate that  the EAS  unit had ever  been operational  or 
that the system was temporarily taken out of service for  repair.  
The operator on duty was unfamiliar with the operation of the EAS 
unit and indicated  that he had  never sent nor  received an  EAS 
alert from the EAS unit.


                        III.  DISCUSSION

     4.   Section 73.49 requires that antenna towers having radio 
frequency potential at the base must be enclosed within effective 
locked fences or other enclosures.  On October 21, 2002, the gate 
of the fence surrounding the tower base was opened and there were 
several boards  missing  from  the fence  itself,  thus  allowing 
unrestricted access  to the  antenna structure.   Moreover,  even 
though Small Town Radio was  aware of the fencing violation,  the 
licensee still failed to take any measures to prohibit access  to 
the antenna structure.

     5.   Section 11.35(a) requires that radio stations  maintain 
operational EAS  equipment during  all times  the station  is  in 
operation.  On October, 21, 2002, the EAS unit was not capable of 
receiving alerts  and there  was no  evidence that  the unit  was 
capable of sending EAS alerts.  In addition, the station  records 
contained no entries of  any EAS activity  or that EAS  equipment 
had been removed from service for repair.2

     6.   Based on the  evidence before  us, we  find Small  Town 
Radio willfully3  and  repeatedly4 violated  Sections  73.49  and 
11.35(a) of the Rules by failing to maintain an effective  locked 
fence around  the base  of  the station's  antenna tower  and  by 
failing to maintain operational EAS equipment.

     7.   Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules,5 the  base 
forfeiture amount  for failing  to maintain  an effective  locked 
fence around the base of the antenna structure is $7,000 and  for 
failing to  maintain operational  EAS  equipment is  $8,000.   In 
assessing the monetary forfeiture amount, we must also take  into 
account the statutory factors  set forth in Section  503(b)(2)(D) 
of the Communications  Act of 1934,  as amended (``Act''),  which 
include the  nature, circumstances,  extent, and  gravity of  the 
violation, and  with  respect  to the  violator,  the  degree  of 
culpability, any history of prior  offenses, ability to pay,  and 
other such  matters as  justice  may require.6   Considering  the 
entire record and  applying the factors  listed above, this  case 
warrants a $15,000 forfeiture.


                      IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     8.   Accordingly, IT IS  ORDERED THAT,  pursuant to  Section 
503(b) of the  Act,7 and Sections  0.111, 0.311 and  1.80 of  the 
Rules,8 Small  Town  Radio,  Inc.  is  hereby  NOTIFIED  of  this 
APPARENT LIABILITY  FOR A  FORFEITURE in  the amount  of  fifteen 
thousand dollars ($15,000) for willful and repeated violation  of 
Sections 73.49 and 11.35(a) of  the Rules by failing to  maintain 
an effective  locked  fence  around the  base  of  the  station's 
antenna structure  and by  failing  to maintain  operational  EAS 
equipment.

     9.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of 
the Rules, within thirty  days of the release  date of this  NAL, 
Small Town Radio, Inc. SHALL PAY the full amount of the  proposed 
forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking reduction or 
cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

     10.  Payment of  the forfeiture  may be  made by  mailing  a 
check or similar instrument, payable to the order of the  Federal 
Communications Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection  Section, 
Finance  Branch,  Federal  Communications  Commission,  P.O.  Box 
73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482.  The payment should note the 
NAL/Acct. No. and FRN referenced above.  Requests for payment  of 
the full amount of this NAL  under an installment plan should  be 
sent to:  Chief, Revenue  and Receivables  Operations Group,  445 
12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.9

     11.  The  response,  if  any,  must  be  mailed  to  Federal 
Communications Commission,  Office  of the  Secretary,  445  12th 
Street  SW,  Washington  DC  20554,  Attn:  Enforcement   Bureau-
Technical & Public Safety Division and MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. 
No. referenced above.  

     12.  The Commission will not consider reducing or  canceling 
a forfeiture in response  to a claim of  inability to pay  unless 
the petitioner  submits: (1)  federal tax  returns for  the  most 
recent  three-year  period;  (2)  financial  statements  prepared 
according to generally accepted accounting practices  (``GAAP''); 
or (3)  some  other  reliable and  objective  documentation  that 
accurately reflects  the petitioner's  current financial  status.  
Any claim  of inability  to pay  must specifically  identify  the 
basis for the claim by  reference to the financial  documentation 
submitted.

     13.  Under the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of  2002, 
Pub L. No.  107-198, 116 Stat.  729 (June 28,  2002), the FCC  is 
engaged in  a two-year  tracking process  regarding the  size  of 
entities involved  in forfeitures.   If you  qualify as  a  small 
entity and  if you  wish to  be  treated as  a small  entity  for 
tracking purposes, please  so certify  to us  within thirty  (30) 
days of this  NAL, either in  your response  to the NAL  or in  a 
separate filing  to be  sent  to the  Technical &  Public  Safety 
Division.   Your  certification  should  indicate  whether   you, 
including your parent  entity and its  subsidiaries, meet one  of 
the definitions  set forth  in  the list  provided by  the  FCC's 
Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) set  forth 
in Attachment  A  of this  Notice  of Apparent  Liability.   This 
information will  be  used  for  tracking  purposes  only.   Your 
response or  failure to  respond to  this question  will have  no 
effect on your  rights and responsibilities  pursuant to  Section 
503(b)  of  the  Communications  Act.   If  you  have   questions 
regarding any  of  the  information contained  in  Attachment  A, 
please contact OCBO at (202) 418-0990.

     14.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NAL shall be 
sent by regular mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt  Requested 
to Small Town  Radio, Inc., 12600  Deerfield Parkway, Suite  100, 
Alpharetta, Georgia 30004.   


                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                         Fred L. Broce
                         Atlanta Office, Enforcement Bureau


Attachment
_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. § 73.49 and 11.35(a).

2 See 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.35 and 11.61.

3 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which 
applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed under 
Section 503(b) of the Act, provides that ``[t]he term `willful', 
when used with reference to the commission or omission of any 
act, means the conscious and deliberate commission or omission of 
such act, irrespective of any intent to violate any provision of 
this Act . . . .''  See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 
FCC Rcd 4387-88 (1991).

4 The term ``repeated,'' when used with reference to the 
commission or omission of any act, ``means the commission or 
omission of such act more than once or, if such commission or 
omission is continuous, for more than one day.''  47 U.S.C. § 
312(f)(2).

5 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(4).

6 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).

7 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).

8 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.

9 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.