Clearer Cell Reception—

Company Considers FFH For Cell Antenna

By Kendra Bobowick

If a phone call is urgent and a clear signal becomes essential, drivers passing through Fairfield Hills may be in the ideal place to pull over for a conversation.

Although only in preliminary stages, Sprint service provider representatives have expressed an interest in locating a tower on the campus.

At best any future agreements with the company would mean revenue, but Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle is firm about terms.

Is it a good idea? “It always depends on the deal.” With revenue only part of his concern, Mr Geckle is also worried about the view. Traveling down Queen Street offers a first glimpse of rippling hills lining Wasserman Way. As drivers reach the end of Queen Street to turn left, they soon are traveling between broad fields of overgrown grass, deer paths, and a border of mature trees turning to orange or yellow with the season.

Thinking of the multi-tiered metallic tower adjacent to Newtown High School and visible from Berkshire Road, he said, “If it looks like the one near the high school we wouldn’t allow it.” Liking the ideas of cellular antennas that can be placed within cupolas, atop flag poles or lighting poles, for example, he said, “We wouldn’t allow anything else.” Additions to the park-like grounds must be in keeping with the campus, he stressed. No economics or terms for rent have entered the discussion yet.

Mr Geckle said conversations with service providers are still in preliminary stages and engineers must determine if the particular site will work for them.

During the October 17 regular authority meeting, Maria DeMarco of DeMarco Management commented on cellular antennas. “They’re all over as you know, and quite lucrative.” The authority and municipality would not have to do anything in exchange for rent. She noted, “There is nothing, nothing, we would have to do…”

Aware that towers, such as the one near the high school can be “Unsightly,” she then discussed how technology has changed. Ms DeMarco expressed the same ideas to the authority that Mr Geckle had shared. “They can look like a flag poles, go in cupolas,” she said.

The town already has two in the Newtown Meeting House. Equipment could also be located on top of a light pole, such as the poles the Parks and Recreation Department members hope to install around the new, 90-foot baseball diamond now established on the campus, Recreation Commission Chairman Ed Marks noted.

Addressing the authority earlier this month, he said, “They are at times put in in conjunction with lighting,” he said, also saying that he believed the cell companies at times paid for a large part of the lighting project. With a hint of concern, authority member John Reed cautioned that the towers should not be located on a site that has the potential for future use.

Although rental rates are not yet under discussion, Ms DeMarco explained, “They’re coming back to me with a proposal.” Mr Geckle believes that the next authority meeting may see cell antenna discussions.