The construction of the 160 foot cell tower, behind Lewisboro Town Park looks near complete. This effort spanned the terms of four town supervisors. The convenience of making a call on Route 35 may soon be commonplace.
I think back now to the series of public hearings, town and planning board meetings and legislative efforts that were required to bring this tower into existence. During my term as Supervisor, we enacted local legislation and enlisted the help of our newly elected State Assemblyman to enact a New York State law allowing the use of the acreage for the tower.
Our local legislation gave the Town Board the authority to erect a temporary tower while the permanent tower approvals navigated their path through our local approval process and ultimate construction.
I remember a comment letter from the planning board stating any extensions of the temporary cell tower permit would be unnecessary as their approval process was timely and would not delay any desired results. The irony being, the temporary tower has now been in operation for two years. Those two years provided income to the town and the safety of cell reception, at least in our Town Park, baseball field and albeit limited reception during three major storm emergencies.
I remember the disappointment of not having cell reception at the high school after the 80 foot temporary tower was installed. An added benefit, which reduced my disappointment, was that permanent tower plans were amended increasing the height to 160 feet from the normal 120 feet to increase coverage capability.
I am eager to see the effect of the results of the completion of this project on the hamlets of Cross River and South Salem. I am also optimistic that the Patch inviting me to be a Local Voice will have a similar positive effect on Lewisboro.
Charlie Duffy
P.S. If you look closely you can see a worker atop the tower.
