PUTNEY — Residents and the chair of the town's Planning Commission spoke out at the Aug. 28 Selectboard meeting against the stated intent of AT&T to site a temporary, 85-foot-tall mobile cell tower on land across from the Basketville store on Route 5.
“It's dreadful siting; it's the most visible part of that site, and it's very much in conflict with the cell tower regulations that we have, which are very explicit about the location of cell phone towers in the hills. It runs completely counter to that, and they acknowledge that,” Planning Commission Chair Phillip Bannister said.
AT&T says it needs the temporary tower up and running to restore telephone and Internet coverage here that was eliminated when it lost an interstate roaming agreement not long ago.
The company added that it needs the site temporarily - 18 months or so, while it searches for a place to mount a permanent tower - though it would be free to keep it up longer.
AT&T has reportedly signed an agreement with Greg Wilson, owner of Basketville, to lease the land it's planned for siting the mobile tower.
Some dozen residents attending the meeting spoke out, sometimes in a welter of voices, complaining of an anticipated hum from the equipment; the fact that state rules allow cell carriers to circumvent town zoning in such matters; and that there is no guarantee that the temporary tower would come down.
The discussion comes as AT&T begins the legwork to seek a required Certificate of Public Good from the Public Service Board, part of which involves informing the Selectboard of its intent.
An AT&T spokesman has agreed to attend the Selelctboard's next meeting, Sept. 11, to discuss the matter, technically in hopes of securing a letter of support from the Selectboard, the Planning Commission, or both to bolster its case with the PSB.
“They're willing - they don't have to, but they're willing - to come to a meeting to talk to us,” Town Manager and Zoning Administrator Cynthia Stoddard explained. She promised to have that meeting well-publicized to give the greatest number of residents an opportunity to weigh in on the record.
She added that, “I have been told that they have found a permanent site, but I have not been told where.”
Responding to a resident's question, Bannister explained that the state has circumvented local zoning processes to promote better cell tower coverage.
“So that's a laudable goal for cell phone users, but the best that we can do is make a strong statement about our reaction to this proposal, and see whether it has any impact on the Public Service Board's consideration,” he said.
Putney resident Beckie Coffey, saying she agreed with all of the criticism of the plan she'd heard that night, nevertheless urged the Selectboard “not to take the concerns of the people on Putney Mountain lightly; we have to keep an open mind.”
Coffey explained her family are AT&T customers and have intermittent AT&T reception, intermittent service from FairPoint Communications, and no Internet service.
There is one cell phone tower serving the area: on Holland Hill Road, just above the new wildlife area,” Selectboard member R. Scott Henry said.