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04/02/2022 12:00 AMWritten public comments are being accepted at siting.council@ct.gov through April 14 on the siting of a proposed 110-foot-high cell tower planned for land leased at 222 Clintonville Road (Route 22) in Northford. An application for the tower site is currently under consideration for approval by the state's Connecticut Siting Council (CSC), which received the application on Jan. 27, 2022. On March 15, the CSC held a public hearing on the matter, via remote technology.
In addition to testimony gathered from questioning the applicants and its team of experts, the CSC heard 7 public comments March 15. Two comments were made by town officials in support of the tower site. Five comments opposing the tower site were made by area residents with homes on either Pistapaug Road or Clintonville Road (see "Public Comments" below).
The primary carrier will be Verizon Wireless but the site will be sized for three additional carriers. The applicant is Homeland Towers LLC and Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless.
The Town of North Branford would be a co-locator on the proposed site due to the tower incorporating a new, digital emergency services radio antennae array. North Branford public emergency officials are in favor of the proposed tower which they said is needed to fill in long-recognized, critical communications gaps and dead spots plaguing the town's current conventional radio system.
Paul Zito, an emergency service radio communications consultant working with the Town of North Branford, was a witness for the applicant at the March 15 hearing. He summarized the issues with current emergency radio coverage in the Northford end of town, which he said has "...always been a poor coverage area."
"By putting an antenna in that location, they will fill in the dead spots; especially within buildings up there. There's a couple of schools there, some industrial buildings as well as some low-density residential buildings. So this would augment and provide much better coverage than what they have now," said Zito. "This is a new system they're putting in. They're going on an 800 trunk system, sharing resources with the State of Connecticut, and abandoning the four other locations they use now in town. Right now, they have other locations, their system is somewhat spread out. So they will actually be consolidating the amount of sites that they use and increasing their coverage remarkably."
In response to a CSC member's question as to whether there's a second or third site proposed beyond this particular one, Zito answered, "...there's a second site that we're looking at that's down south on the Tilcon property at their sand pit or aggregate operation."
An update from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) dated March 9 and provided by the applicant to the CSC noted that, at 110 feet in height, the proposed cell tower at 222 Clintonville Road would not have an adverse impact on Northford's historic sites. The SHPO also recommended a monopole design over a monopine (a pine tree-like cell tower structure).
The CSC asked for details about both monopole and monopine structures on March 15; although the applicant confirmed the proposal was leaning toward installing a monopole; at least in part due to the SHPO response. A full transcript of the March 15 hearing is posted now at www.townofnorthbranfordct.com
According to presentation plans submitted by the applicant, the project limit of disturbance would be 0.96 acres of a 7.86 acres parcel listed to Gail and Michael Monaco at 222 Clintonville Road. The area where the parcel is located incorporates land between Clintonville Road and Pistapaug Road.
Seeking a Cell Tower in Northford
The issue of poor cell phone reception and dropped calls in the Northford area isn't a new one. In 2004, the CSC rejected, without prejudice, an application by Metro Tower Co./Site Acquisition Inc. for a 150-foot-high cell phone tower at 80 Old Post Road, due to its impact on nearly 60 homes in the surrounding area as well as on Northford's historic district corridor.
In 2014, Verizon's initial "search ring" began, seeking to site a cell tower in Northford. It included looking into creating a "stealth steeple" cell tower at St. Andrew's Church; however, the concept wasn't pursued as it was later deemed to no longer be a viable solution due to height limits and evolving network needs.
CSC members also asked the applicant about its attempts to involve Town property and the Town's decision not to enter into a lease with Homeland Towers. Homeland Towers Regional Manager Ray Vergoti told the CSC, "There's been three attempts by previous developers to bring sites into a historic district, one the [Town] Council denied back in 2014. But to answer your question specifically regarding the town, this proposal was vetted before the Town Council on numerous occasions. [On Feb. 25] they ended up sending a letter of noninterest on any public properties...I've had numerous meetings with various members and town officials and from what I can gather, they do not want to encumber the town property."
Vergoti, a North Branford resident of 26 years, said there had been discussion with the Town Council about a potential deed restriction behind Totoket Valley Elementary School (TVES) and the Stanley T. Williams Community Center to allow for a wetlands crossing.
"There [were] also issues that they have walking trails for the students of [TVES] and they wanted to keep those open and pristine and not encumbered with any type of development for a cell tower," said Vergoti.
On March 15, Vergoti said discussions with various town officials have taken place over the past two years up to and including very recent talks with the Town Council.
"There's been dialogue for the past two years, and there's been even discussion, as of two weeks ago, again before the Town Council, and they have adamantly declined to have any cell tower on the town property in this section of Northford," said Vergoti.
Other CSC questions for the applicant included those on visibility of the proposed tower, especially with regard to impacting residents in the surrounding area; as well as those on environmental impacts to wildlife in the area, together with those on construction impact on wetlands in the area and other questions regarding hydrology. A shift of the tower to the south, by approximately 48 feet from its originally proposed location, was also discussed. Vergoti said the move was made to accommodate a request of landlord and her family members, the Mathews, who reside on abutting property on Pistapaug Road; the shift of the tower to the south moved it further away from Pistapaug Road.
The applicant was questioned on whether a farm pond on the property was considered a vernal pool which would require consideration of whether the installation would impinge access of species. In the opinion of the applicant's experts following research, site visits and some trapping to date, while the presence of one "vernal pool obligate species," wood frog, was detected as present "in or around the pond;" the body of water is considered a year-round pool and not a "true vernal pool." Additionally, other species found to be present in the year-round pool are those which prey on the wood frog, which would limit the ability for its breeding habitat.
Queried on whether the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) bat program had been contacted regarding the area's population of the Indiana Bat, which is listed as an endangered species, the applicant's expert noted it had not corresponded with DEEP but, based on information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, any clearing on the site would have to take place between October 1 to March 31, so as not to disturb a cycle important to the bat.
According to responses provided on the application, the proposed antennas are capable of providing upgraded 5G service. Verizon Wireless radio frequency design engineer Ziad Cheiban, answered a query from the CSC as to which frequency bands would be used to deploy 5G services.
"We're currently using the 850 megahertz and we will be using the new 3.7 gighertz frequency for 5G," said Cheiban. "That is what's current, but in the future we might reuse some of our existing frequencies that are being used for 4G, and we might convert those to 5G."
Chieban was also asked if 5G frequency could impact boat communications traffic on Long Island Sound. He said determining it would not have enough reach, as well as being on a frequency exclusive to Verizon, so it is not considered to have an impact.
Additionally, he answered a question regarding why the tower wasn't being sited further to the north, in order to fill a need coverage area along Route 150 as part of its function.
"I don't think it's practical to cover both of these with a single site. I'm going to have to come up with a different solution for 150," said Chieban, who also responded to a query as to whether that means another site will be needed between the proposed cell tower and the next nearest tower, located in Wallingford.
"We are probably going to need another site; possibly a collocation or some other solution to fix that, you know, weak coverage on Route 150," he said.
Many more details regarding questions and answers posed during the hearing can be viewed within the 136-page transcript at the town website.
Public Comments
On March 15, the CSC gathered 7 public comments, 2 made by Town officials in support of the tower, and 5 from area residents opposed.
David Palumbo spoke in support of the tower in his capacity as chair of the Town's Public Communications Committee as well as the "unified voice" North Branford public safety services, supported by Police Chief Kevin Halloran, Interim Fire Chief Anthony Esposito, Police Commission co-chair Victor Pietrandrea and Fire Commission chair Ed Prunier.
Palumbo said land mobile two-way radios are a public safety organization's primary communications tool and a "lifeline" during calls; and the current radio system is aging and at the end of its life. The present system is impacted by dead spots and spotty coverage which can be non-existent at times in both the residential areas as well as public buildings; while the current system also makes mutual aid and future interoperability challenging; given that most surrounding towns and state police have moved to digital. He said the town has been struggling for many years to provide a "reliable uninterruptable communication system which is critical to the safe operations and operations of the police, fire, emergency medical services and operation of the Regional Center for Life Safety for North Branford residents."
Town Manager Michael Paulhus also spoke in support of the application, saying, in part, "...it provides the town with an opportunity to improve our public communications system."
"The proposed tower is an integral part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade and improve deficiencies in the town's current radio system," said Paulhus. "The town's topography and aging system presents significant challenges to providing effective community in our community."
Five area residents spoke against the tower and outlined their concerns for the CSC.
Northford resident Sarah Brown said that, as a town employee, she doesn't deny the need for improved emergency communications; but that as a resident of Pistapaug Road, she didn't think the site was appropriate for a cell tower.
"The town had an opportunity to put a cell tower on town-owned property and about a mile away from the historic district but chose not to do so," said Brown, adding the tower proposed for 222 Clintonville Road "...would actually be erected closer to my property [at] only 589 feet away," and would have an "enormous impact on her family and their neighbors."
Brown said she was "actually shocked" by the SHPO findings of no adverse impact to the historic sites in the area. She said the proposed cell tower would negatively impact the character of downtown Northford as it would, "practically abut the property line of a historic district and at the ACES School [and] it would be seen in all directions instead of just one."
Brown said she had noise concerns created by testing generators and the tower itself. She said she came away from a recent informational meeting on the proposed tower learning "...there would be a constant low hum" emanating from the site, which would "greatly impact the residents and neighbors."
Pistapaug Road resident Kenneth Martin said CSC failed to touch on areas which should be considered including property values and potential health issues for people living in the area of the proposed cell tower. Regarding state-approved EMF and RF wave levels with which the CSC may be "comfortable," Martin said, "...there's a lot of studies that say these are safe levels, there's a lot of studies that says that they're not." He also pointed to emerging risk evaluation studies by the insurance industry with regard to health impairments due to impacts of EMF exposure as well the potential of future effects of 5G exposure.
Noting she had grown up on her family's land at 222 Clintonville Road, Bonnie Mathews, a Pistapaug Road resident said she felt the tower would be "detrimental to the people of the neighborhood, the environment and the historic village of Northford."
Additionally, Mathews said, "The tower salesman seriously misled us as to the location and what the tower would entail," adding that, "...With the upcoming 5G cells, the RF rays would be stronger. The FAA has already determined that 5 G is powerful enough to disrupt airlines. So what's it doing to us? Health risks from these rays are a major concern. A cell tower should not be built in a residential area. There are several open spaces in town. The town of Wallingford has leased some open land to a cell tower companies and added over $500,000 to their town funds. Our Town Council should take a lesson and not miss this opportunity to help our town. Apparently, the Town council voted that no tower be built on town property behind Stanley T. Williams school. Why is this site unacceptable behind that school but its okay behind ACES school?"
She also said the tower would "... be an eyesore and a nuisance with constant humming and loud routine maintenance.
Mathews also spoke the property's underground spring, which feeds the pond, "...which is a back up water source for Northford Fire Department. The tower company wants to build an access road in the spring area. We have protected bats on the property that feed on the pond's mosquito population as well as an endangered hawk in our woods."
She said the areas birds, reptiles, fish and animals will "suffer from the construction of this tower," noting the many trees to be cut down will destroy or damage habitats.
Henry Petry, a Clintonville Road resident to the south of the site, said he was raised on the property that's been in his family for over 100 years. He said he turned down a 2021 offer to lease some of his land for the cell tower, after his investigation into the matter "made it quite clear it was not only unfavorable to my property, but more importantly, to the town and village of Northford."
He also noted it doesn't fit with the Town's current Plan of Conservation and Development.
"The proposed cell tower is not only surrounded by residential homes but is adjacent to numerous contributing structures to the Northford Center Historic District and National Registration of Historic Places. The proposed cell tower would be less than 300 lineal feet to 900 lineal feet from the historic church, school and town library," said Petry.
"Furthermore there are potential environmental concerns of the noise and removal of trees that would negatively impact the area. In addition the proposed generator, the first of possibly three additional generators, appear to exceed the town's noise ordinance of Class A residential levels."
Petry said he was quite concerned about the noise created by the generators and the overall effect on human and wildlife habitat.
"It is quite possible that Northford needs a cell tower, but placing it in the R40 zone extremely close to the center and village of Northford and the overall effect on the village is not in the best interest of anyone in Northford," he said.
Joseph Rebeschi, a Pistapaug Road resident, said he felt the visual impacts of the cell tower were being "downplayed" in images supplied by the applicant.
"I think the pictures that have been supplied by the applicant are completely inadequate to show the true impact of what it will do to the Northford Historic District," Rebeschi. "I don't think that's a very fair or clear depiction of what it will impact the town center with."
As a graphic artist, he offered his services, free of charge, to show the CSC how it will "really look and not by a red dot hovering over a tree."
He also said he was surprised to learn during the March 15 hearing that the coverage provided by cell tower won't be extensive enough to address other area inadequacies on Route 150, saying if that's the case, "...what are we doing here?"
Rebeschi also felt the Town should instead consider placing antennae at the Tilcon site mentioned earlier in the hearing.
"I know the Town is supporting this, surprisingly, in a residential neighborhood, historic district with a school, ACES, there; because they want their radio antenna on top of the tower. So that choice or Tilcon, which is a strip mine. So just a message to the Town, if I'm going to make a decision I'd put the antenna in a strip mine rather than in the middle of a neighborhood. So they should be rethinkng their position on that."
What's in the Application
The application seeks a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the construction, maintenance and operation of the wireless telecommunications facility. The proposed facility on the northern side of 222 Clintonville Road on a private parcel would be accessed from an existing driveway which would be developed to a new, 12-foot-wide, 795-foot-long gravel access drive. The project would require the removal of 93 trees from the property's wooded area.
A 110-foot-high cell tower monopole would rise from the approximate center of a fenced-in, 4,000 square-foot compound. The proposed monopole would be topped by two municipal whip antennas of 14 feet and 24 feet in length, reaching a maximum height of 134 feet. At 96 feet up, Verizon would install 12 panel antennas, 12 remote radio heads and one MPB (mounted on double T-arms); antenna centers will be painted and antennae fitted with antenna socks. The tower will be designed to accommodate up to three future carriers. Those carriers' arrays, if installed, would be placed at 10-foot intervals beneath the Verizon array (86 feet, 76 feet and 66 feet).
In the southeast corner inside the gated compound, concrete pads topped by steel canopy will house equipment cabinets, a 50kW propane-fired generator and a 500-gallon propane tank to fuel the generator. Work lights shielded by the canopy would be activated for use manually, such as by a mechanic working at night; the lights will include shut-off timers.
Outside the 8-foot-high fenced area and surrounded by protective steel bollards, a utilities area with electric meters, an electric transformer and telephone cabinet will be installed. The compound will be surrounded by plantings of 5 -to 6-foot-tall evergreens for screening. Electric and telecommunications services will be fed by underground utilities connected to an existing utility pole on Clintonville Road.