After not hearing “no,” plans to build an 80-foot camouflauged tower behind the George Washington Intermediate School in New Castle, PA are moving ahead. As the New Castle News reports, neither the architect nor an AT&T representative showed up at a scheduled meeting to discuss their plans with the city council. However, since the planning commission has no voting power and can only make a positive or negative recommendation, the absence did not hinder the project.
AT&T already has several antennas occupying the school’s chimney but has no room to add more. The proposed tower will be placed in a rear parking lot and will be disguised as a three-sided clock tower. The matter has already had its day in court, with AT&T coming out the victor with the granting of a conditional use permit.
The New Castle Area School District also comes out with a win and can expect monthly rental fees of $2,000 for hosting the new cell tower, according to the New Castle News. Once construction is complete, the school will earn its $24,000 per year, with an added increase of 2 percent each year. These fees will add to the $56,000 the school already earns by having T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon using the site.
Frustrated planning commission members offered up a comments after AT&T failed to attend the recent meeting to discuss its plans. “Let’s send a message to the council that we’re not comfortable saying yes,” said commission alternate, Melanie Mars. “I would rather say no, especially since these people didn’t show up.”
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