Fire Commissioners: Cell tower permitting process starts

Shelter Island Fire Commissioners took another step forward in their efforts to see a cell tower erected at the Manhanset Firehouse on Cobbetts Lane.

They have signed a letter of intent with Elite Towers of Deer Park, starting a 180-day clock running that would allow the district to back out during that time for any reason.

At the same time, they disclosed that in response to a second cell tower company seeking the project, Elite had agreed to raise its initial payment to the fire district to $150,000 from $100,000. Both Elite and the second company, Diamond Communications, based in New Jersey, offered to split annual profits from companies putting antennae on the tower on a 50-50 basis with the fire district.

That’s something Highlander, the initial company seeking the job had turned down, maintaining that the split would be 40-60 with the town getting only 40 percent.

The choice of Elite over Diamond is because that company sent a representative to an open meeting to discuss its plan, while Diamond only had telephone conversations with Commission Chairman Keith Clark.

Also, Elite is based on Long Island, while Diamond’s nearest base is in New Jersey.

During the 180-day period, Elite will be conducting tests to determine what height it would recommend for the tower and moving forward with the process to obtain a special construction permit from the Town Board.

Once an application from Elite Towers is before the board, it will schedule a public hearing on the matter.

In July, Cobbetts Lane resident David Harms asked the board to hire an independent engineer to evaluate the proposal to determine whether it’s necessary for emergency communications or an alternative solution might suffice. He also wants the engineer to advise about what height would be needed if a tower is critical.

It was subsequently learned that the town had already taken a step to identify an engineer to assess the proposal.

Mr. Lechmanski pointed out that during what turned out to be a bogus call about a boat sinking off Dering Harbor last month, communications for those in the fire boat were reduced to using cellphones.

Had the boat been forced to go just a bit further from the area it was searching, the cellphone communication would have been dead as well.

BUDGET
Taxpayers will see a decrease in their taxes to support the Shelter Island Fire District in 2015 despite a proposed 2.93 percent increase in spending. The increase doesn’t pierce the state-imposed 2 percent tax cap because the district spending for the current year was less than 2 percent, Treasurer Amber Williams said.

The amount to be raised from taxes would be $818,804, as compared with $795,492 raised to support the 2014 budget.

An owner of property valued at $640,000 would pay $174.49 in 2015 as compared with $175.36 paid to support the 2014 budget. An owner of property valued at $1 million would pay $272.64 in 2015 as compared with the current $274 bill.

Small increases in spending are in the areas of equipment, insurance, repairs and maintenance and fuel oil. Some of the increases are offset by decreased spending, including a small savings in wages resulting from combining the treasurer’s and secretary’s jobs into a single job held by Ms. Williams. She has long been the district’s treasurer, but took over the secretary’s responsibilities last year upon the retirement of former secretary Jackie Tuttle.

Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, and likely vote to formally adopt the budget at their October 27 monthly meeting.

NEWEST FIREFIGHTER
Reverend Stephen Fearing became a Shelter Island Firefighter Monday night. He’s the new minister at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church who was ordained in July. In taking the oath to uphold the policies of the district, he told the commissioners, “With God’s help, I will.”