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Update: Petitioners call for consultant on cell tower plan

 

REPORTER FILE PHOTO | David Harms of Hay Beach presented petitions to the Town Board Tuesday on a proposed cell tower.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO | David Harms of Hay Beach presented petitions to the Town Board Tuesday on a proposed cell tower.

A petition and related emails from 257 Island residents asks the Town Board to hire a consultant to be ready to tackle questions about the proposed cell tower at the Manhanset Firehouse on Cobbetts Lane.

But while the Reporter received the actual petition, the Town Board only received the list of names, according to Councilman Peter Reich. The paper was given the number of signers, but not their names.
Mr. Reich said the town already identified a consultant who would cost $5,000 so that when the applicant presents his plans to the town, he would be told about the added $5,000 fee for which he would be responsible.

Having a consultant in place was what Hay Beach resident David Harms told the Town Board Tuesday he and signers want since federal law requires that any requests for additional information from the applicant be submitted within a 30-day period. There’s also a 150-day clock that starts from the time the application is submitted to when a decision has to be rendered.

It’s current presumed that Elite Towers of Deer Park would be the applicant.

Among questions the petitioners want a town consultant to be ready to ask are:
• Is a second cell tower necessary?
• Are there alternatives to a tower, such as nodes that function as mini antennae that could be put on existing poles?
• Does the proposed tower minimize the impact on the neighborhood or would a tower less than 120 feet suffice?

The cost of the consultant, by law, must be borne by the applicant. But to  get an independent consultant who works for municipalities, not cell tower developers, in place needs to be done quickly so they are familiar with the town code and be ready to examine the proposal the developer submits, according to Mr. Harms.

“The petition is not for or against a new tower per se,” according to a letter Mr. Harms submitted to the Reporter. Rather it’s a means of ensuring Island residents that the Board is representing their interests by handling the application appropriately, Mr. Harms said.