More than eight months after plans to locate a cell phone tower here encountered strong opposition, it appears that the call has been dropped.
The Connecticut Siting Council had no pending applications Friday for a Verizon cell phone tower in the city, and it wasn't clear whether any new submissions are pending.
"I am not aware of any plans at this time to go forward with the cell tower," Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said.
The Park, Beach and Recreation Commission last August refused to allow Cellco Partners Inc., which does business as Verizon, to build a new tower in Eisenhower Park. Residents of Flax Mill Lane and other neighborhoods surrounding the park raised concerns about an unsightly structure there, and the possibility of harmful magnetic fields being emitted from the tower's antennas.
The 330-acre North Street park is bisected by 110-foot, high-voltage power lines that were approved by the siting council over the city's objections.
The cell phone company had voluntarily withdrawn an application before the council to build a 120-foot tower on land behind the Woodruff Family YMCA on Orange Avenue when homeowners in the neighborhood -- laced with farms, athletic fields and schools -- vigorously protested. Cellco officials said at a public hearing last summer that the new cell tower -- the company's fourth in Milford -- is needed to fill in a "dead spot" near the Wilbur Cross Parkway. They could not be reached for comment Friday.
YMCA Executive Director Charles Clifford said that he assumes that the company does not intend to revive that proposal, though he hasn't been formally notified. "I actually haven't had any contact with them in quite some time," he said.
The YMCA was planning to use the estimated $65,000 in annual lease fees from Verizon to cover part of the $229,000 in free services that the agency provides each year.
"We are the largest child-care agency in Milford and we provide scholarships to children for swimming lessons, summer camps and other programs," Clifford said. "The scholarship money is a right-now problem so we are moving ahead with other fundraising efforts. We, along with all of the Y's in the state, will be participating in the Strong Kids Campaign, which solicits businesses to write tax-deductible gift checks for scholarships.
"But some people you have to hook in another way, so we will be holding a Sprint Triathalon on May 23, which includes a run, a swim and a bike ride. The triathalon is one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S.," the YMCA director said.
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Plans dropped for Milford cell phone tower
Source: ctpost.com
Date: 04/18/2010
