Date: Fri 18-Jul-1997

By ANDY GOROSKO

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Sprint-Spectrum-ZBA-monopole

Full Text:

Sprint Builts 150-Foot Cellular Tower in Botsford

(with cut)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Sprint Spectrum, a limited partnership, has built a 150-foot-tall steel,

monopole-style tower off South Main Street to hold a nine-antenna array for

digital cellular communications.

The free standing tower is in an M-5 Industrial zone on the west side of South

Main Street, south of Bear Hills Road, just north of the Monroe town line.

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) last year approved Sprint's request for a

special permit and a zoning variance to build the tower.

Sprint plans to use the tower for antennas for its Personal Communications

Services (PCS) wireless communications network. In 1995, Sprint purchased a

Federal Communications Commission license to provide its PCS network in

Connecticut.

The cellular communications system will provide communications for

individuals, businesses and emergency services located along Routes 6, 34, 25

and 302, according to Sprint.

The tower is intended to improve communication services in the area,

especially improving the performance of hand-held wireless telephones.

PCS is a wireless, digital communications system that transmits voice, data

and images via radio waves within large areas known as "cells." Such a

communications network is used for voice phones, pagers, answering machines,

faxes, modems, call waiting, caller ID, voice mail, and text messaging.

A PCS network operates at higher radio frequencies and lower radiated power

outputs than previous cellular communications systems.

The tower will have enough mast space on it to allow two additional

communications companies to build antenna arrays on it, according to Sprint.

The installation eventually may be equipped with an emergency generator to

provide electricity during extended power outages, according to the company.

"The design of the monopole (tower) and the character of the surrounding

landforms will greatly contribute to the lack of visibility within most of the

`viewshed,'" according to Sprint. Vegetation in the area is about 60 to 80

feet tall.

The proposed tower won't require a special high visibility paint pattern or

lighting because it won't pose hazards to flying aircraft, according to

Sprint.

The galvanized tower will have an eight-foot-tall lightning rod attached atop

it for protection from lightning strikes. The installation will include

electronics cabinets on the ground surrounded by a chain link fence topped

with barbed wire to keep people out. ZBA members required that Sprint plant

appropriate landscaping around the fencing to obscure the installation from

view.

Sprint has an agreement with Maureen Julian of Julian Enterprises to lease

1,600 square feet of land at 352 South Main Street for the tower, according to

Sprint's application to the ZBA. Access to the site will be provided by a

gravel driveway connecting it to South Main Street.

Lawsuit

After the ZBA approved tower construction, an adjacent South Main Street

property owner sued the ZBA and Sprint over the approval.

In the action filed in Danbury Superior Court, property owner Deborah

Schneider of Fairfield, who owns residentially-zoned land at 350 South Main

Street, sued over Sprint's plans to build the tower next door.

That lawsuit was later settled out of court.

In January, in the face of strong neighborhood opposition to its proposal to

build a 180-foot-tall monopole-style tower for digital cellular

telecommunications off Rock Ridge Road in Dodgingtown, Sprint withdrew an

application pending before the ZBA.

In February, the Connecticut Siting Council unanimously approved a request

from Sprint Spectrum to install a digital cellular telecommunications antenna

array on an existing antenna tower at Northeast Utilities' Newtown Service

Center on Barnabas Road in the Hawleyville industrial area.

The siting council approved allowing Sprint to install the cellular antennas

95 feet up on the existing 180-foot-tall lattice-style tower. Northeast

Utilities uses the tower for company communications.

The siting council had jurisdiction in that application, not the ZBA. The

council regulates the uses of existing towers. The ZBA acts on proposals for

new towers. The siting council favors putting existing communications towers

to multiple uses.

The communications towers typically are constructed along heavily-traveled

roads to provide digital cellular communications for motorists with portable

telephones.

Next HRRA Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Event Scheduled In Newtown

Genealogy Club's Next Program To Dig Into 'Dissecting A Civil War Pension Record'

Choral Society Planning ‘Voices Of America’ Performance

Newtown Earth Day Festival Was A Success

Local Fourth Grader To Host ‘Gaming For Change’ On May 16

The editorial took no position on the budget going up or down so you're reading things into the editorial that simply aren't there. The turnout is tied to the lack of passage, in that people who came out to vote last time did not this time, indicating a lack of support on their part. Perhaps it wasn't spelled out clearly enough, but that's what the editorial was driving at, people showing lack of support by not casting a vote. The editorial did address likely concerns among voters that may have led to lack of support and lack of turnout. This lower turnout also follows increasing turnout over the past four referendums in three years (meaning it is an aberration from that), and increased turnout is something that I do push for regularly in editorials. Any disappointment you might be seeing is at the break in that trend, not at whether the budget passed or not. I'd rather see more people come out and vote "no" then not vote at all.

Lower Turnout Results In Two Budget Defeats

Clearly, property owners no longer want to bear the burden of expenses while the state does not meet it’s responsibilities. Rising costs must be addressed by actions that do not include yearly increases of property owners’ taxes. The state of CT must meet its share of the educational costs, and other costs.

Town And School Budgets Fail At Referendum

This feels like an oddly misleading headline and narrative, particularly coming from the Editorial Board. The headline "Lower Turnout Results in Two Budget Defeats" pushes a misleading narrative regarding voter turnout, and then seeks to tie the outcome of the referendum to that misleading narrative. Sure, voter turn out for this year's referendum, 18%, was lower than last year's. However, last year's turnout, 25.4%, represented the highest turnout in the most recent 10 budget referendums. If you take the time to examine turnout percentages between 2017 and 2026 (2017: 19.9, 2018: 15.7, 2019: 17, 2020: 0, 2021: 8.98, 2022: 7.7, 2023: 8.8, 2024: 15.1/17.49, 2025: 25.4, 2026: 18), this year's turnout was actually the third highest in the past 10 cycles. Perhaps the headline of this article should say "Lower Voter Turnout Than Last Year", which is more accurate, rather than creating an impression that this year's turnout is some type of aberration - a narrative that the turnout numbers, in all their binary glory, simply do not support. Further, the headline of this article appears to tie the "lower turnout" to the defeated budgets. Sure, that could be true. But, perhaps, its more likely that Newtown residents are feeling the squeeze of multiple economic influences. In Newtown, we've experienced property revaluations and increased municipal spending. Eversource continues to raise rates. The state legislature gives PURA the authority to impose Public Benefit charges that benefit a tiny percentage of the public (and subsequently burdening the rest of us). At the national level, inflation has run rampant for years and many of those costs remain high to this day. In short, the data tells a far less dramatic—and far more honest—story than the headline suggests. This wasn’t an electorate vanishing in apathy; it was a fairly typical turnout delivering an verdict that, perhaps, some at the Editorial Board didn't like. At some point, it’s worth considering that residents aren’t confused, disengaged, or misled by turnout; they’re simply doing math at their kitchen tables and concluding that “no” is the only responsible answer left.

Enjoyed the forum which only confirmed my support for Brandon Moore as the Democratic candidate to run for the state representative position. Brandon Moore did not waiver about his duty to all the people, if elected, when an issue presents itself that requires that he voice a difference of opinion for the wellbeing of Newtown residents. If Michelle Ku’s 16 years have led to her loyalty being to other elected officials, as she implied, then Newtown is going to continue to witness actions that do not protect its residents. She could not unseat republican, Mitch Bolinsky, during a Blue Wave, and once again, will not do it now. Winning that seat is critical for all. That explains why her previous campaign committee now campaigns for Brandon Moore. It explains all the endorsements he has received from local elected democratic officials. It’s why we need Brandon Moore to be the democratic candidate to run for state representative.

Second Newtown DTC, League Of Women Voters Candidates Event Planned

Appreciated the opportunity to hear from both candidates as we were present for the College Dems forum but only heard from Brandon Moore. It was an opportunity to see who can unseat the Republican incumbent and there is no doubt that Brandon Moore should be the Democratic candidate. One concerned parent posed a question about discrimination unaddressed by the school district and interestingly enough, Michelle Ku, who proudly speaks of her Board membership years, said little, while Brandon Moore passionately addressed the issue along with his experience as an Apache Helicopter Commander. This family is supporting Brandon Moore. We need change and someone who is not afraid to disagree, especially about the rising costs of living in Newtown.

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Date: Fri 18-Jul-1997

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