BC News

Public informational meeting on remaining cell tower site set for November 18

Release Date: October 28, 2009

At its October 21 meeting, the Board of Education eliminated the two elementary school sites, Clarksville and Hamagrael, from any consideration for cell tower development.

The Board will hold a public information meeting on the remaining potential location — a wooded area near the Operations and Maintenance facility off of Elm Avenue — at the start of its meeting on Wednesday, November 18.

The Nov. 18 meeting will be held in the Bethlehem Central High School Library Media Center, and the cell tower portion will run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. It will include a presentation from the district’s cell tower consultant, Independent Towers LLC, who will describe the project, and the timeline for the review process. That will be followed by an opportunity for all residents to provide feedback on the plan and submit questions.

The Board could make a decision as early as that meeting on whether or not to proceed with a formal review of the Operations and Maintenance site by the town of Bethlehem.

“As with any decision, we are highly interested in public participation and encourage anyone interested to come on November 18,” Board President Jim Dering said.

Last year, as the district grappled with the impact of the unfolding financial crisis on its budget, it stepped up its search for outside revenue sources to help alleviate the property tax burden. One of the ideas that came along was the prospect of leasing some district-owned land to a firm that develops communications towers and rents space on them to cell phone carriers.

In May of last year, the Board named Independent Towers as its consultant for the project. In its initial report to the district, the firm named three potential sites for development — area on the properties of Hamagrael and Clarksville elementary schools and a site tucked into a patch of woods between the district’s Operations and Maintenance facility and Elm Avenue. This location is on the southeast corner of 140 acres of district-owned land that also includes the High School and transportation facility.

“We never considered the elementary sites as the most likely locations, and concerns residents forwarded to us in recent weeks helped clarify that even further,” Dering said. “However, we do have a responsibility to look for non-tax revenue wherever possible, so I believe continuing to carefully consider this one potential site seems to be the right way to move forward at this time.”

At the October 21 meeting, Dan Schweigard of Independent Towers told the Board that while revenue estimates for towers can vary, a tower at the remaining site could generate as much as $35,000 initially.

The development of any cell tower is subject to lengthy review, with a handful of agencies at the local, state and federal level involved.

If the Board proceeds with the project, the proposal would likely be reviewed by both the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board. 

 

 

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