Vote on temporary cell tower is delayed
The Esopus Town Board has put the immediate future of TMobile’s cellular signal coverage along U.S. Route 9W in jeopardy by delaying a vote on a proposal to allow a temporary 106-foot tower behind the Town Hall.
The lease request by developer HB&C was discussed during a board meeting Wednesday.
HB&C owner Chris Bevans told the board the current lease for tower space on Snake Mountain is scheduled to expire the day before the board’s Aug. 7 session.
“We are looking for a temporary lease,” he said.
Bevans said Supervisor Diane McCord, who was absent from the meeting, suggested the Town Hall property, as well as land at he town Highway Department garage at 324 Mountain View Ave. and the town water and sewer plant at 131 River Road.
The town has been offered $1,000 per month for at least six months to use a 20-by-30-foot area that would occupy two parking spots in the Town Hall’s lower parking lot.
Bevans said HB&C and other cell services providers rent space on the current tower from Historic Hudson Valley Radios. He did not know the lease of the other providers.
Councilwoman Gloria VanVliet said the board should schedule a public hearing to take comments on the proposal.
“The residents of this immediate hamlet [of Port Ewen should] be notified such a possibility exists so that they can come up and express their feelings about it,” she said.
Board members also suggested the town Planning Board review the proposal.
Town Building Inspector Salvatore Morello said site plan approval would not be needed, but he suggested the tower be far enough away from the Town Hall to avoid damage to the building if it fell.
“I think the distance from the building should be at least be the height of the tower,” he said.
Ulster County Legislator Carl Belfiglio, a Republican who is running for town supervisor in the fall, said the town should reject the tower proposal.
“The purpose of [government] is to ... levy taxes, to make laws and make regulations, and to collect taxes,” he said. “The town is not in the business of making money or becoming an enterprise, and I understand that a temporary tower and then possibly a full-time tower would bring revenue into the town. I don’t have any objections to revenue, but if you think about it, what comes next?”
Town resident Brent Spoth also opposed the tower being placed on municipal property.
“[If] we support T-Mobile, we are being an active member in the marketplace,” he said. “Should the town agree that T-Mobile should have a tower here, that same thing should be offered to everyone or else we are influencing the free marketplace.”