Residents Wary of Council Jumping to Put Up a Cell Tower on Town Land

Residents came to the Watertown Town Council Tuesday night asking them not to rush into allowing cell antennas to go up on town property.

Since 2011, the Town Council has looked at whether to put up cell antennas on town property in an effort to improve wireless coverage and to prevent cell providers from putting them up on houses or apartment buildings.

One area being investigate is the Public Works facility on Orchard Street, said Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli. The town has talked about putting up a 100-foot tower at the DPW to replace an 80-foot one. 

The area was also identified as one with poor cell coverage by a study done by a consultant hired by the town.

"It seems to be a place where there is a major (coverage) soft spot and it's in an industrial area, not residential," Piccirilli said.

A council subcommittee recommended that town hall staff put together an outline of a request for proposal for putting antennas on public property. The outline would include limitations to address concerns of residents, which include potential health hazards from the cell signals and having visually unappealing antennas.

Kate Coyne, who lives near the Public Works facility, said that her cell reception is fine, and there are other ways to improve reception.

"I want low impact, small solutions," Coyne said, such as signal boosters people can put in their homes. She also wants to know if the area near the DPW facility meets the federal requirements of a soft spot.

Michael Dattoli said he has seen the reasons for the cell tower change.

"It was a revenue need, I heard discussion that the DPW needed better communications, and now they seem to take out the DPW need but instead look at what residents need in a small area of town," Dattoli said.

Town Councilor Tony Palomba said he thinks an outline for a proposal could just speed up the process of having antennas on town property.

"It is easy to move from a suggested RFP (request for proposals) to a proposed RFP," Palomba said.

Councilor John Donohue said he worries that cell providers will find alternatives to spot on town property. Federal regulations allow carriers to put up antennas in areas of town where they are normally not allowed. This can only be done if there are no places available in areas where they are allowed.

"The area (near the DPW facility) is a strong soft spot and carriers have been knocking on doors looking for people willing to put up an antenna on their property," Donohue said. "They will continue to knock on doors in residential areas until they find someone willing to take $25,000 a year to put up a false chimney with an antenna inside."

One such antenna has been installed on a building on Waverley Avenue, Donohue said.

The council voted 8-1 to have the outline request for proposal be drafted by town hall staff. Councilor Susan Falkoff voted against the motion.