Clarksburg Residents Remain Unconvinced of Cell Tower Need
The planner said they want to have a decision prior to the town election so as not to push the decision onto a new board.
The public hearing at the Senior Center was the culmination of months of debate over the need for the cell tower. The Planning Board closed the hearing after nearly two hours of discussion and continued the deliberations to a later date.
Verizon's representatives came armed with new data, requested documents, 12 conditions they were ready to abide by, and a third-party analysis explaining the need for putting the cell tower within the five-mile limit set by the town's zoning bylaws.
That wasn't enough.
"At no point did anyone from Verizon show any concern for the residents of the town of Clarksburg and the bylaws," said Bryan Tanner, an abutter who has been vocal in his opposition to the tower. "The application by Verizon should be rejected based upon noncompliance ...
"We've been very generous, we've listened to all the Verizon plans ... but they refuse to look at all the alternatives."
Residents have argued that the telecommunications company could expand its service along Route 8 by using other locations; the company says it's also about reducing the load from the northwest-facing tower on Florida Mountain. Putting in other locations like the town landfill or farther up Route 8 into Stamford, Vt., won't suffice.
Jay LaTorre, a radio frequency engineer for Verizon, said the company was working to create a "robust and reliable" wireless infrastructure to meet growing demand.
"With this proposed facility on air, it allows us to go back to the North Adams facility to strengthen its output," he said. "The end result would be the Clarksburg facility would be able to take on more traffic. The reliable coverage is maintained because that footprint is not changing but the footprint of dominance is changing. The end rsult is a better ability for Verizon to provide a lot of service."
In response to questions about other sitings, LaTorre touched on some possibilities. The company's responded to a request for proposals to site an antenna on the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts campus, a well-known dead zone, but that facility would be too far south to reduce the mountain antenna's load.
There's also discussion of the Berkshire Medical Center facility being a possible location, he said, but that, too, would have little affect on the North Adams facility. Should the city issue an RFP for the airport, that might help, but it is not currently in the cards.
"When you have a facility of this size, that covers such a large footprint, it's not just a matter of finding that one site that will meet all of the solutions for coverage and capacity," LaTorrre said. "It's done in the approach of looking at multiple facilities, looking at multiple areas where there is a need."
Planner Carl McKinney repeated LaTorre's assertion that the antennas could manipulated to improve coverage and asked why that couldn't happen now.
LaTorre said installing the Clarksburg tower would allow Verizon "to minimize and shrink the responsibility for service" of the North Adams facility and adjust it to provide better capacity.
McKinney also asked about the use of smaller repeaters on telephone poles that had come up in meetings with Verizon officials. LaTorre said those are better suited for isolated, high-use areas such as strip malls but would not adaptable to the wider landscape in Clarksburg. But McKinney questioned the need for more capacity in an area with a shrinking population.
The town's frustration with the landowner inevitably spilled over into the debate over the tower. The former country club was described as "bombed out" after several years of digging and materials removal. Initial plans to rehabilitate the course were dropped when it became cost-prohibitive and current owner Todd Driscoll has attempted to recoup his investment by leasing part of the land for a solar array and the cell tower.
"We've tried as a community to work with this property owner to make it successful but we've been sold a bill of goods," said McKinney, also the town administrator. "What are the plans for making it less than an eyesore it is? You have these piles of dirt, and gravel and sand ...
"Why should this board trust anything you tell us given you are representing an owner who has not lived up to his obligations?"
Residents also expressed concern over property values, dismissing a report provided by Verizon estimating they would not change much, and demanded to know if a lawsuit, now moved to federal court, with North Adams Tower Co. was behind the plans. The tower company owns the current facility hosting Verizon and other antennas on Florida Mountain; the original two towers collapsed three years ago.
Verizon representatives repeatedly said they still had access to the tower, showing a permit dated Monday for work there, and had no plans to abandon it.
Attorney Ellen Freyman, representing Verizon, said the company had done it's due diligence in investigating the site and responding to the Planning Board's questions.
"This is a significant financial undertaking from the original work to the due diligence to all the permitting to the construction," she said. "It's huge financial obligation on part of Verizon. If it could be fixed by putting an antenna up on Florida Mountain, even two or three or four ... that would be the solution they would seek before going and trying to put up another cell tower."
Tags: cell tower, Planning Board, public hearing, Verizon,
