Arkansas Fine Reduced, Follow-Up Ordered

The FCC cut a $15,000 fine down to $3,000 for the licensee of KAKJ(FM) in Marianna, Ark.
L.T. Simes II and Raymond Simes had been fined $15,000 last July for owning an unregistered tower, locating the transmitting antenna a mile west from its authorized location and not having operational EAS equipment in the station.
Raymond Simes did not dispute the violations, but asked for the penalty to be cut or eliminated. He said the station is located in a poor, rural area in which it is difficult to find a broadcast engineer. Because he had no engineer, Simes stated, he didn’t know the geographic coordinates for the tower, specified by a contract engineer who prepared the CP application, were incorrect, and said he was not aware of tower registration rules. He intended to install EAS equipment, but could not afford to pay the original fine.
The FCC expects licensees “to become familiar with and comply with” the rules, it stated in its order, but reduced the fine because Simes submitted documentation to support financial hardship.
The Enforcement Bureau required Simes to submit proof within 30 days that he has filed a tower registration application and an application to correct the station coordinates and installed EAS equipment.