Robert Miller, Staff Writer
Published 09:35 p.m., Friday, March 11, 2011
NEW FAIRFIELD -- One controversy is resolved.
Another may be starting.
On Thursday, the town completed the $190,000 purchase of a communications tower in Patterson, N.Y., just over the town line. The site had been owned by Tower Hill Communications.
The tower, which sits in the middle of the Michael Ciailoa Conservation Area, does away with a plan to build a tower for the town's emergency radio communications system in the middle of the 890-acre Great Hollow Preserve.
First Selectman John Hodge said Thursday the tower purchase is a "win-win.'' [SO WAS THE BRIDGE TO THE OLD HOUSES ...
Another may be starting.
On Thursday, the town completed the $190,000 purchase of a communications tower in Patterson, N.Y., just over the town line. The site had been owned by Tower Hill Communications.
The tower, which sits in the middle of the Michael Ciailoa Conservation Area, does away with a plan to build a tower for the town's emergency radio communications system in the middle of the 890-acre Great Hollow Preserve.
First Selectman John Hodge said Thursday the tower purchase is a "win-win.'' [SO WAS THE BRIDGE TO THE OLD HOUSES ...
AND THE TOUR BUSES TO NEW FAIRFIELD TO THE MUSEUM DISTRICT TO ENJOY THE HISTORY OF THE TOWN! LET'S NOT MENTION THE RESTAURANT ON THE BEACH ... AND THE MANY OTHER "WILL NOT COST ONE THIN DIME OF TAXPAYER FUNDS PLANS"!]
It gives the town a tower to complete its emergency radio system, Hodge said, and because the town owns the tower, it will be able to rent space on it to generate revenue.
"This will pay us back in eight years,'' Hodge said Friday.
It also gets the tower out of Great Hollow, he said.
The state attorney general's office had objected to the town's plan to build the tower there, claiming it would go against the will of Walter Merritt, who left the land to Wesleyan University with the expressed intention that a wildlife sanctuary would be created there.
"That's good new,'' said Dr. Peter Rostenberg, the leader of the Friends of the Quaker Brook Haviland Hollow Watershed, which includes the Great Hollow property. "It means the town will have safety and a communication system. And it preserves open space, which I think provides the town with economic benefits.''
Susan Kinsman, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said Friday the attorneys involved with the case were pleased by the purchase and would reconsider their actions against New Fairfield.
But some opponents of having a tower in Great Hollow also faulted Hodge's decision to buy the Tower Hill property.
"It's terrible,'' said Ronald Graiff, a radio frequency consultant who works on cell tower projects.
The tower, he said, is far too high to work well as an emergency communications tower without picking up a lot of interference.
The tower is also too high for cell phone companies, so Hodge's plan to generate revenue won't work, he said. "It's useless." [A POINT WELL TAKEN ... IF THE LOCATION WAS THAT GOOD AND COVERAGE AS COMPREHENSIVE ... THEN WHY DID THE CELLULAR PHONE COMPANIES PUT THEIR ANTENNA'S ON OTHER TOWERS WHEN THIS ONE EXISTED?]
Graiff and Steven Roe, another opponent of the tower at Great Hollow, also questioned who will pay for maintenance of the 1,200-foot road to the tower and its aging buildings.The tower, built in 1947, was part of the nation's first microwave system, allowing television broadcasts.
Graiff and Roe also wondered if the town will have to pay Patterson taxes because it owns the land.
Roe said the town could have avoided these issues if it had rented space on a tower in New York at Quail Ridge.
"Let's say it cost us $1,000 a month, Roe said. "At $190,000, that's something like 13 years without worrying about maintenance."
Roe also complained that no one in town was consulted about the project. Hodge completed the sale without going to the Board of Finance or the Planning Commission and without a vote of the Board of Selectmen.
"There are probably more questions about this now than if we had followed the process,'' said Selectman Monika Thiel.
Hodge said Friday all these criticisms came from people who have always been opposed to the tower.
"They'll never be happy,'' he said.
Hodge said Thursday the height of the tower had been an issue -- one that made the town's consultant, RCC Communications, reject the site.
But after a second look, Hodge said, RCC and Motorola, which is supplying the town with radio equipment, realized the Tower Hill site was viable and could be a good location for the town's emergency system. [WHAT CHANGED?]
Hodge also said it made no sense for the town to rent space at Quail Ridge when it could own Tower Hill and rent space on it to other companies. The town's existing emergency communications tower earns about $140,000 a year in rental fees. [WHY WASN'T THIS CONSIDERED DURING THE INITIAL PLANNING?]
"It's the old question, why do people own their own home as opposed to renting?''' Hodge said.
He also said the town had approved building a new communications system and allocated money for it, so there was no reason for him to consult the Board of Finance. [THE ISSUE HERE IS THE POTENTIAL CONTINUED ON GOING LIABILITY AND TAXES]
Likewise, he said, because the land the tower sits on is in Patterson, not town land, the Planning Commission has no jurisdiction over it. [WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STATEMENT?]
Hodge said he hopes to have the emergency system installed and running in a few months, and it will provide coverage to police, fire and ambulance crews in 95 percent of the town. [WHERE ARE THE NEW MAPS OF COVERAGE?]
"That's the most important thing,'' he said.
Contact Robert Miller
at bmiller@newstimes.com
or at 203-731-3345.
Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/default/article/New-Fairfield-leader-buys-communications-tower-in-1083541.php#ixzz1GOZcmfch
