There are several tower debates happening in New York State, the first being over three possible 180-foot towers in Rensselaerville. The controversy with that tower has reached the New York State Supreme Court as residents in nearby areas have mixed reviews regarding aesthetics and functionality of the tower.
The Altamont Enterprise reported that the Albany County Sheriff’s Department wanted three towers in the southern part of the county to help first responders, but those particularly in Rensselaerville and Berne were vocal about their opposition. The Enterprise said that there are hidden towers in Adirondack Park, but they do “not provide the trunk line proposed” for the county, a superior system made to deal with high call volumes. The upgrade including the new towers would amount to a $19.3 million endeavor, complete with a 800 MHz trunked system. Ten other towers have already been upgraded, the Enterprise noted, but since microwave dishes on the towers need to “see” each other for relay purposes, taller towers above the tree line are needed.
Congress created The First Responder Network authority (FirstNet) in 2012, and gave it $7 billion and 20 MHz of radio spectrum for a broadband network for public safety. It has come up in several talks as it is unclear if New York state is in the FirstNet realm, but residents asked if the upgraded Albany County system was compatible, and if it was upgraded in the future, if it still would be.
FirstNet, according to a resident at a recent planning board meeting, uses a “broad-based system [that] does not rely on two, three, or four very tall towers but on multiple relatively short antennas. This makes the system more flexible and more nimble and secure.” According to the Enterprise, the resident said the sheriff’s idea was “outdated,” which a FirstNet spokesman agreed with in an April email. However, some experts maintain that “to provide voice coverage with the same reliability as the sheriff’s new system is promised to provide—and, in addition, to do so at 4G speed—would require FirstNet to build many more towers than the target 13 in the sheriff’s system.”
Regarding visibility, the new towers would have the same design, appearance and height at 180 feet. One would be “highly visible” at the top of U’Hai Mountain, another at Edwards Hill, southeast of Preston Hollow in Rensselaerville township, would mar views of Catskills, which irks residents.
Keith McCeever, public information officer for the Adirondack Park Agency, wrote the Enterprise and said: “We do not have a height limitation. Our policy calls for— and we strive to achieve—substantial invisibility, meaning towers are not readily apparent in the landscape when viewing from public lands inside the park. This means we highly discourage towers that are sky lighted [or] stand above the tree line.” However, this doesn’t always bode well for great cell reception within the park, which brings the argument back to public safety.
The sheriff’s department stressed to the Enterprise that VHF radio communication in the Hilltowns is “horrible, in buildings, it is non-existent. On the street, it hovers around 50 percent. There are large widespread dead zones, sudden coverage loss or loss of a call and lack of capacity …the technology being used is over 20 years old.” Other first responders in the county in question agreed. Even residents who agree, however, question which system is best.
Judge Gerald Connolly of the state Supreme Court will meet with attorneys for a “court conference” Monday to review claims of a petition filed December 2, 2015, according to the Enterprise, brought by Scenic Rensselaerville (an association of 170 residents) against the Town of Rensselaerville Planning Board. It claims “that the board ‘improperly’ [authorized] construction of a 180-foot tall communications tower on Edwards Hill … in the middle of the Town’s Scenic Vista Overlay.”
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