Developing plans for a new 280-foot high lattice cellular tower in the Spring Glen area of Wawarsing are causing some static among neighbors and Hudson Valley residents alike. The tower has been proposed by a Boca Raton, Florida-based company called SBA Communications, and the Wawarsing Planning Board will address the issue at their next meeting on Tuesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

Should the proposal be approved, the tower will be erected on the property of Ron Irwin of Tice Road in Spring Glen, and will reportedly allow AT&T — the company contracting SBA to site the tower — to fill a two-mile coverage gap south of Ellenville on Route 209. The tower itself will not broadcast any signal, but will instead allow AT&T to mount its transmitters, along with any transmitters from other wireless service providers to whom AT&T may lease tower-space. Additionally, the FAA requires that any structure 200 feet or higher be equipped with a blinking light to help prevent aircraft collisions, a requirement which will certainly apply to this tower should it be approved on Tuesday. When asked via phone about the proposed tower, Irwin declined to comment.

One of Irwin's neighbors, Catherine Abate, received notification of the proposal's impending discussion at the next planning board meeting, and has since sounded the alarm in trying to have the plans for the tower altered, reduced, or halted altogether. Despite the fact that the lease agreement was signed by Irwin in September 2007, and the application to the planning board was made by SBA on February 5 this year, Abate was notified of the proposal just last week, two weeks prior to the scheduled approval meeting.

Abate has contacted the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition, a self-described "alliance of local, regional and national organizations working to protect the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster, Sullivan and Orange counties of New York," and they have posted a "ridge flash" alert on their website about the proposed tower, asking for letters to be written to the Wawarsing Planning Board "requesting that the height of the tower be capped at 199 feet and that the public meeting be held open to allow time for adequate review," the height cap presumably included to eliminate the need for a light on the tower.

Abate has also contacted a lawyer, who will be present at Tuesday's planning board meeting, and Andy Willingham, an engineer from the New Paltz-based firm David Clouser and Associates, who is reviewing SBA's proposal materials in order to come up with alternatives to building the tower so high — or even at all.

"Their package to the town is as bare-bones as I've ever seen as far as detailed information," says Willingham. "What we're really trying to figure out is does it really need to be this big…we're pretty sure that it doesn't need to be this giant thing."

The fully-completed environmental impact long-form, a section of the proposal which would discuss the broad environmental impact the tower would have on the surrounding area, has yet to be finished, and is set to be done so at 6 p.m. prior to the 7 o'clock planning board meeting on Tuesday.

Abate's opposition of the proposal stems from a number of concerns she has about the tower, chief among them the supposed health risks close proximity to microwave transmitters can cause, such as increased risks for cancer, Alzheimer's, and ADD. However, these concerns won't help her cause.

"[The health risks] can't be mentioned in the conversation with the planning board because the federal government says it hasn't been proven that there are health ramifications from the [electromagnetic frequencies], so that's not an argument," says Abate.

In addition to these inadmissible concerns, however, Abate believes the tower could have a harmful effect on the ridge's wildlife, such as migratory birds, and will also be visible from miles around, thereby impacting the ridge's valuable landscape, a notion corroborated by Willingham.

"The more I look at this thing the more I realize how much it's going to be visible from 209," says the engineer. "You're not going to be able to miss this thing. It's going to be enormous."

Planning board member Georgine Matichuk advises that if property owners and residents like Abate are not happy with the prospect of this or any other proposal that goes before the planning board, it's important for them to make such sentiments known.

"If the public is unhappy with something [proposed], they need to bring their opinions to the planning board as well as the town board," says Matichuk.

As of press-time, phone calls made to SBA Communications were not returned.

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