Superstorm Sandy Put Community Back to the 19th Century for 12 Days

Two years ago the Mount Pleasant town officials turned a blind eye to the lack of wireless infrastructure in the area when they denied the construction of cell tower on town land. Not only did the town lose out on $200,000, they also deprived the community of the ability to communicate six months later. In a letter to the Lohud, a newspaper in New York, written on June 26th, Ken Lyons of White Plains claims that the only thing left to look at in Mount Pleasant will be paved building lots and a few trees placed between. “A very sad prospect due to our open parcels of land are running out quickly,” he said. “We need to think of preserving such valuable resources, not diminishing them in the interest of profit, and it needs to happen yesterday.” However, William Metzler of Thornwood wrote a reply to Ken’s letter explaining that, “The letter writer decries the anti-ecological policies of the town. However, two years ago the board closed its eyes and denied construction of a cell tower on town land, costing the town $200,000 and denying over 100 families in the Nannyhagen-Bear Ridge community cell service. Six months later, Superstorm Sandy put us back to the 19th century for 12 days. While over 90 percent of Americans have cell phone service, some even provided at government expense, we languish in a communication vacuum. As the Town Board denies modern technology, again, I ask the supervisor to reopen and approve the cell phone tower and bring us into the 21st century.” This is a common debate among residents. Some feel as if new buildings and technology are detracting from the environment, while some realize that denying residents of cell phone service is cruel and unusual punishment.