Bhangra beats could be blasting from the Point by next winter.

 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation for the first tower in a proposed array of five 145-foot AM radio towers at the southwest corner of McKenzie Way and Tyee Drive.

The array would be the transmission facility for KRPI 1550 AM, a radio station now transmitting from Ferndale. “The plan is to move from this location to Point Roberts,” said station engineer David Harris. “This would be a transmission facility only. The studios would be located elsewhere.” Studios are currently located in Richmond, B.C. and Ferndale.

Harris said the commercial radio station specialized in ethnic programming. “Most of the programming is in Punjabi serving the East Indian population of the Lower Mainland,” he said, adding they were also working to serve the growing Whatcom County Hispanic community.

Permitting for the project is still in the earliest stages. After the FAA clears all five towers the Federal Communications Commission will need to sign off on the application, and the applicant, BBC Broadcasting, will need a conditional use permit from Whatcom County. The FAA determination cites June through December 2011 as the proposed work period.