TOWER ONE - TOWN HALL-FIRE DEPARTMENT
P. Gary, photo, from Town Plan 2000 (l) and at right, Weston resident Osprey family atop Tower #1 since 2015 - Audubon Society keeps tabs on them.

T O W E R    N E W S :  2 1 s t   C e n t  u r y   t w i s t



Table of Contents:

FORMER LANDFILL FUTURE THINK...DURING BUDGET PROCESS




Feb. 18, 2020, Board of Selectmen review of 1st Selectman's Budget FY21
Creative thinking by all at the front table in open and quite remarkable discourse...
 MEMBERS OF BOARD ASSESS OPTIONS FOR RECYCLING AT MULTIPLE LEVELS, SO IT IS REPORTED BY FIRST SELECTMAN..

OP-ED | In Bridgeport, Green Energy Park is a Win for Our Kids and Families
CTNEWSJUNKIE
by Bill Finch | Sep 11, 2014 5:30am

We face an amazing opportunity in Bridgeport.

Working in partnership with my administration, United Illuminating plans to install 9,000 solar panels atop a closed and unused landfill, as well as a 2.8 megawatt fuel cell. The site of this project is in the midst of a formerly rundown section of the city that has been transformed into Eco-Technology Park...

MAYBE IN WESTON?
A good site for "energy park" that stores energy for hybrid school bus fleet?


Weston's Tower One (aka "one ugly dude") and how the Town of Weston brought down the CT Siting Council...c.1998

BY 2010:  Contract for AT&T and Cingular are OK'd to be added to tower two - brings revenue to the town!  Repeater mentioned above for Fire Dept./EMS to be at new Lyons Plain fire station (r.).

Weston Tower Two: Our own cell-phone pic
WESTON Tower History and Latest...


TOWER NEWS IN WESTON...OFFICIAL OPENING FOR TOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT- EMS...
Second Weston cell tower
Telecommunications tower is complete
Weston FORUM
by KIMBERLY DONNELLY
Jul 26, 2007
 
The new cell tower at the town transfer station is complete. 

It’s official: Weston is now a two-tower town...
 
The 185-foot three-legged lattice tower was built on town property by Sprint at an estimated cost of about $260,000. The town, however, will take over ownership of it as soon as it receives a final accounting report and an independent inspection report.

In exchange for building the tower, Sprint’s rent — for placing its equipment on the tower — is to be abated until the company recoups the construction costs. Once it has recouped its costs, Sprint will pay $2,200 per month in rent to the town, a fee that will increase 3% annually.

Mr. Landry estimated it will be about six or seven years before Sprint gets its first bill, “but they will have paid for everything and given us ownership of the tower ... It’s definitely a great deal for us.”

Delays

The project, first proposed in the fall of 2005 and originally scheduled to be up and running more than a year ago, has been plagued by a string of delays from the outset.

One of the problems at the beginning of the process was that phone companies kept merging — the town would be on the verge of an agreement with one company when it would be bought out or merged with another, and negotiations would come to a halt.

Ultimately, in January 2006, the town signed a deal with Sprint, in which the phone company would build the tower but the town would own it.

The tower had to go through numerous approvals by the Connecticut Siting Council, which oversees the construction of all telecommunications towers in the state. Also, two easements — one granted to AT&T to run phone lines from the road to the tower, and a separate one allowing CL&P to lay electrical wires — had to be granted by Town Meeting, and each of those votes meant several weeks of procedural hoop-jumping.

When it came time to lay the phone lines in May, AT&T decided to subcontract the work, which meant it was well over a month after the easement had been granted before work even began on that final phase of construction.

Perhaps the most noteworthy delay on the project came last summer, when a deputy tribal historic preservation officer from the Narragansett Indian Tribal Nation walked the Weston cell tower site and determined blasting could not be used during construction.

The officer, Doug Harris, said after visiting the site he was confident it was an “area of significance” to Native Americans; he believed blasting would be inappropriate, both for spiritual reasons and because of the danger of dislodging a stone structure he found.

When digging the foundation for the tower, a mechanical hammer, like a jackhammer, had to be used instead of blasting, which added several weeks to the project.

Additional income

In addition to Sprint and the town’s emergency communication equipment, T-Mobile also has equipment located on the tower. They will pay rent to the town to the tune of $2,500 per month — but not for a while...



Discovery stalls cell tower construction
By JEANNE HOFF
Hour Staff Writer

WESTON — A historic discovery at the construction site for the town's Sprint and Omnipoint T-Mobile cell tower, south of Devil's Den, has stalled the already delayed $250,000 project.

Dough Harris, deputy tribal historic preservation officer from the Narragansett Indian Tribal Nation, recently surveyed the ground where the tower is slated to be built and reportedly found a ceremonial stone structure that relates to ancient traditions in the area...

SPRINT lease for new tower project (DISTRIBUTED ATJANUARY 5, 2006 Selectmen's meeting):
 
SUMMARY (from Town Att'y's office January 4)
Sprint will lease space (#3) at 174' level;  Sprint will pay $2200 per month increasing @3% annually;  Sprint will construct the tower (189') and related improvements (building, utilities, access);  Sprint's rent shall be abated until expenses recouped (@$260,000--more detail in contract);  town will pay for its own equipment - in 15 days from signing agreement process can start--3 months expected.  TOWN INDEMNIFIES SPRINT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS...
...at Planning and Zoning Commission, Monday, June 20th;  later...Board of Selectmen in Weston discussing a new tower (we think at the Transfer Station) November 17, 2005 in executive session...

P&Z
"Municipal Tower to be constructed at the site of the Town Transfer Station at Godfrey Road,"  come out and hear about and/or speak about the proposal and cell phone service in Town on June 20, 2005, in the Commission Room at Town Hall, Weston, CT at 8pm.   UPDATE:  Since the Public Hearing, it has been reported in the FORUM that this original location did not meet standards for tower construction because it was found that the ground was unsuitable for supporting a structure as weighty and of the proportions of a just-under 200 foot cellular three-legged tower.  Conditions of approval indicated that the Town did not have to return for another 8-24 report if the distance from the property line continued to hold at 300 feet.





Creating DEEP: Consensus on the concept, haggling on the details
Jan Ellen Spiegel, CT MIRROR
April 18, 2011

The last time Connecticut had something akin to an energy department, Jimmy Carter was president and the nation faced the aftereffects of the Arab oil embargo: crude oil had risen to $14.53 a barrel--$53.02 in today's dollars--and the average price for a gallon of gasoline was 62 cents--$2.26 today.  They would be a relief now as Connecticut once again creates an energy department. By the time this legislative session ends, it's widely expected that a new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, DEEP, will exist in place of the current Department of Environmental Protection.

There doesn't seem to be significant opposition to the move, which in general would merge, streamline and coordinate nearly a dozen energy and environment-related entities that now exist in somewhat disconnected and frequently redundant fashion in and outside state government. Ultimately it would put energy and technology policy, environmental conservation and quality and public utility regulation under one roof.  But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, and there are a lot of them...



Wireless advances could mean no more cell towers
YAHOO
By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer 
Fri Feb 11, 11:52 pm ET

NEW YORK – As cell phones have spread, so have large cell towers — those unsightly stalks of steel topped by transmitters and other electronics that sprouted across the country over the last decade.

Now the wireless industry is planning a future without them, or at least without many more of them. Instead, it's looking at much smaller antennas, some tiny enough to hold in a hand. These could be placed on lampposts, utility poles and buildings — virtually anywhere with electrical and network connections.

If the technology overcomes some hurdles, it could upend the wireless industry and offer seamless service, with fewer dead spots and faster data speeds...


RTM passes cell tower restriction near schools
By Neil Vigdor, Greenwich TIME Staff Writer
Published: 07:29 a.m., Tuesday, March 9, 2010

A resolution aimed at deterring the placement of cell towers within 1,500 feet of accredited schools in Greenwich was adopted late Monday night by the Representative Town Meeting.

Three-and-a-half hours after coming to order at Central Middle School, the legislative body voted 124 to 29 in favor of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.  Though the resolution isn't legally binding, its proponents said it was critical for the town to take a stand against locating telecommunications equipment near schools for safety reasons.  The safety measure was borne out of a controversial T-Mobile plan to build a cell tower on a private property next to North Mianus School...
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Cos Cob parents stage rail station rally against cell towers
By Colin Gustafson, Greenwich TIME Staff Writer
Published: 09:50 p.m., Thursday, February 18, 2010

Greenwich state legislators are proposing a bill that would prohibit building cell towers within 750 feet of a school or day care, but some parents say that distance isn't far enough to ensure their kids' safety...



Does Electromagnetic Radiation In Cellphones Put Us At Risk For Brain Tumors?
Los Angeles Times
Story By DAVID LAZARUS
September 13, 2009
 
People have asked for years whether cellphones can cause brain tumors. And for years the wireless industry has been telling us not to worry.

So that's settled, right? Maybe not.

A group called the International EMF Collaborative issued a report recently warning that cellphones might be more dangerous than users have been led to believe.  The report, titled "Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern," says the latest research indicates that regular use of cellphones can result in a "significant" risk of brain tumors. It also says children are at greater risk than adults because their still-developing brain cells are more vulnerable to electromagnetic radiation.

"Cellphones are causing brain tumors," says Lloyd Morgan, the lead author of the report. "Industry-backed studies try to hide that fact. But if you read them carefully, you can see there are risks."

Full story from L.A. Times

Firm trumpets 'less obtrusive' antenna plan
Greenwich TIME
By Hoa Nguyen
Published June 25 2006

An Illinois company wants small antennas and radio equipment strung along 20 miles of utility poles on the Merritt Parkway as part of a plan supporters say will improve cellular coverage without building new telecommunications towers.

"It generally is going to be aesthetically less obtrusive," said Ross Manire, chief executive officer of ClearLinx Network Corp., an Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based company that specializes in building "distributed antenna systems" -- which rely on a series of small antennas spread over a reception area. "The quality of the system is going to be of high quality."

The company has been shopping its idea to several land-use agencies in the area, including Greenwich, Stamford and Westport, and is expected to submit a formal application to the Connecticut Siting Council. If the company moves forward with its plans, the distributed antenna system would be the first one built in the state, according to officials...
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Derek Phelps, the executive director of the Connecticut Siting Council, said that officials see a place for distributed antenna systems in the state, especially in residential areas and historic districts where there is no "suitable site for a macro tower."

"We have every reason to believe that it's a credible technology and we look forward to its application here in Connecticut," Phelps said.

County may restrict height of cell towers

By Jeff Switzer, Everett, WA Herald Writer
Published: Thursday, November 17, 2005

Future cell towers in Snohomish County could face strict new regulations capping their height and keeping them away from key bird habitats. Currently, there are no height limits for cell towers in unincorporated areas of the county. That could change under proposed rules, which, for the first time, would regulate cell towers.

"They're not huge changes, but they give the public more input," County Councilman John Koster said. Praise for the rules was mixed with criticism Wednesday during debate at a County Council meeting. No vote was taken, and debate is scheduled to resume Nov. 30.

"A lot of our input is reflected in the ordinance today," said Richard Busch, an attorney for Cingular Wireless. But Busch said Cingular objects to banning cell towers from being built within 1,000 feet of wetlands used as bird habitats...There was no debate over capping the height at 180 feet in rural areas and 150 feet in urban growth areas near cities. Nor was there debate over requiring a 20-foot greenbelt of trees and landscaping around a cell tower and its equipment...

 
Port looks at cell tower above beach
By JEFF VANDERFORD, South Whidbey Record Sports, Port of S. Whidbey
Dec 11 2009, 4:39 PM · UPDATED

FREELAND — Port of South Whidbey commissioners will evaluate a proposal for placing a cellular tower on the hill above Possession Beach Waterfront Park.

Port manager Ed Field told commissioners that AT&T wants to construct and operate a facility that will serve Whidbey Island.

That’s a switch from previous proposals, he added.

“Unlike requests from other cell-phone carriers, AT&T said that the tower would primarily serve South Whidbey,” Field said...