THE CROTON CHRONICLE---TELECOMMUNICATIONS: TALL TOWERS OR SMALL CELLS -- WHICH WILL BEST SOLVE CROTON'S MOBILE PHONE SERVICE GAPS?

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Telecommunications: Tall towers or small cells -- Which will best solve Croton's mobile phone service gaps?

The question was debated at a lively and sometimes raucous public hearing on the future of cell service in the village. Also of concern: Possible health effects from cell tower radiation.

MICHAEL BALTER
JUN 27, 2024

Last evening, June 26, the Board of Trustees held a long delayed and much awaited public hearing on a proposed new telecommunications law designed to help improve cell phone service in the village. At least, that’s what Board members insisted that the law will do. But from the first minutes of the hearing, when one resident accused the Board of intentionally setting the microphones at low volume so that no one could hear, to the very end, when two participants called Trustee Len Simon a “liar” and walked out of the meeting room together with others, it was clear that the TelCom law—now 30 pages long in its current draft—has become a hot button issue in Croton.

Indeed, many of the more than 50 villagers who showed up for the hearing were already angry before they arrived. Over the months that the issue has been discussed, some Crotonites have come to question the motivations of the Board, accusing Mayor Pugh in particular of wanting to lease village owned property for the construction of 150 foot high cell towers as a way of raising revenue not only for Croton, but also for major companies in the cell tower business such as Homeland Towers. Homeland has long showed an interest in operating in the village.

In previous posts on this subject, we have reported that village officials appear to have engaged in a long-running feud with some members of their own appointed Telecommunication Advisory Committee (TAC), which refused to disband when told its advice was no longer needed—and which remains an active player in the debate over how to best improve cell service in our hilly village.....read more at Telecommunications: Tall towers or small cells -- Which will best solve Croton's mobile phone service gaps? (substack.com)