New committee formed to study cellular telephone service in Greenwich

The Board of Selectmen on Thursday unveiled a nine-member committee that will tackle the issue of cellular service -- and construction of cell towers -- in Greenwich as a year-long battle over proposed cell towers continues.

But First Selectman Peter Tesei said the Cellular Communication Infrastructure Task Force may have difficulty getting all the information it needs from cell phone companies.

"I think that is going to be one of the more challenging aspects of this group's mission," Tesei said Thursday morning at the meeting. "Some of this information the cellular communications companies deem proprietary. They don't necessarily want to divulge how strong their signals are or where they may have deficiencies, but I think in the interests of the public, they should be more cooperative in that area because that really is at the heart of the issue."

The committee, which hasn't yet met or selected a chairman, has 60 days to file a report to the full Board of Selectmen, Tesei said. Among the task force's tasks are identifying current and potential future cell carriers in Greenwich, examining the strength of cell phone coverage in town, as well as determining whether the coverage is sufficient to meet the town's needs.

Construction of cell towers became a hot issue last year after residents and parents of children at North Mianus School discovered a cell tower in the form of an 80-foot flagpole was proposed for nearby Palmer Hill Road.

T-Mobile, the carrier that proposed the tower, agreed to work with the town and look at other sites instead of going to the Connecticut Siting Council for approval on its Palmer Hill Road site. The council is the state agency that decides whether towers can be erected.

A spokesperson for T-Mobile could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Janet DeLuca, a committee member who is a Representative Town Meeting member for District 12/Havemeyer, said she is keeping an open mind on the subject, adding that alternatives to cell towers should be looked at closely.

"There are emerging technologies that need to be investigated," she said.

One method used in other communities, like Yonkers, N.Y., is Distributed Antenna System. It places wireless antennas on existing utility poles instead of erecting new and taller cell towers.

Joining DeLuca on the new committee are: Greenwich Police Capt. Mark Kordick; Robert Lichtenfeld, managing director of operations for Greenwich Public Schools; Katie Blankley, assistant town planner; Martin Mushkin, a lawyer; Karen Sadik-Khan, an RTM member for District 6/Old Greenwich; Christopher Franco, a conservation committee member; Dr. Peter Arturi from the board of health; and state Rep. Fred Camillo, R-151st District.

Camillo said he wants to err on the side of caution before seeing new towers erected.

"We just don't know what the health risks of these towers are," he said of the radiation emitted by cell towers' antennas. "Nothing is definitive; there are no long-term studies yet."

Camillo introduced a bill in the state Legislature earlier this year calling for cell towers to be prohibited from being constructed within 750 feet of a school or day care. He said the bill has hurdled one barrier by passing through the energy and technology committee. The bill is still before the Legislature and is a long way from becoming law, he said.

Residents were angered last year when they discovered the town's options in the placement of cell towers are severely limited, and that most decisions were left in the hands of the siting council.

The federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits any state or local agency from regulating telecommunications towers on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions.

However, Camillo said nothing remains permanent.

"Siting councils can be disbanded and new laws can be created," he said.

After the controversy erupted last year over the proposed North Mianus tower, T-Mobile and the town looked at various sites in town where another tower could be constructed.

The favored site was 129 Bible St., in Cos Cob, just inside the Montgomery Pinetum nature preserve.

Terms of the lease call for T-Mobile to erect a 157-foot cell tower on 5,625 square feet of town property at 129 Bible St., which it would lease for 10 years with the option to renew for an additional 20 years in two segments.

The wireless carrier would require an additional 450 square feet for electrical equipment on the site, which is currently used as a leaf-composting area.

The town would receive $2,500 in monthly rent that would increase annually by 3 percent, as well as 20 percent of any income generated by T-Mobile's subleasing of space on the tower to other carriers.

"That site did not necessarily receive a warm and fuzzy feeling on the part of some people," Tesei acknowledged Thursday. No final decision has been made on the site, he said.

Proponents of open space opposed the decision because they didn't want to see development inside the Pinetum, a 91-acre parcel donated to the town in the 1950s by the estate of Col. Robert Montgomery.

Staff Writer Frank MacEachern can be reached at frank.maceachern@scni.com or 203-625-4434.