Five leaders from the town’s emergency service agencies signed a letter supporting the replacement of a cell tower at 140 Botsford Road, town-owned land that is home to the Great Hill Hose Co.
“We believe that this project serves the best interests of the Town’s Public Safety personnel as well as its residents and visitors,” they state in the letter.
The document, addressed to the Seymour Board of Selectmen, is signed by police Chief Michael Metzler, Public Works Director Dennis Rozum, Fire Department Chief James Smith, Ambulance Association Chief Scott Andrews and Emergency Management Director Thomas J. Eighmie.
The letter is embedded at the bottom of this post.
Town officials are currently reviewing a proposal from AT&T to replace an aging, 160-foot cell tower behind the Seymour Fire Department’s Great Hill Hose Co. with a new, 165-foot tower.
In recent weeks the proposal has triggered opposition from both neighbors and firefighters at Great Hill Hose.
Neighbors worry a taller, modern cell tower will stick out like a sore thumb in the area. Firefighters who spoke against the replacement tower said they’d rather not agitate neighbors who already put up with a lot living near a firehouse.
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The letter from the town leaders calls the replacement tower a slight change from what is there now and “represents a small price to pay for the revenue and improved communications not only on the municipal side but for those customers of AT&T that would result from the execution of this project.”
The letter was read into the record at the Seymour Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday, Feb. 4. Click here to watch a video of the meeting.
At that same meeting, Marsha Schuck, during the public portion period of the meeting, again expressed her opposition to the proposal.
She said cell towers do not belong in residential areas, and questioned whether the town is losing the ability to assess the structure since it is being put on public land.
“I sincerely hope you take the concerns of the neighbors into consideration when you vote on this tower,” Schuck said.
The town stands to make $18,000 in yearly rent from AT&T from the cell tower. That income is supposed to go back into the fire department, officials said.
The annual rent just isn’t worth the disruption to area homeowners, neighbors have told Selectmen.
Andrews, the ambulance chief and a firefighter, said that in addition to revenue, the tower is needed because AT&T cell service is terrible in the Great Hill area — a fact made worse during last year’s blizzard.
“I understand the concerns of the residents, because if it was in my backyard, I would probably have some concerns about it,” Andrews said.
But Andrews said cell service is needed in the area, and that the location makes sense, particularly because there’s a tower already there.
The benefits to Seymour as a whole outweigh the potential impact on the neighborhood, Andrews said.