It’s possible a bid on the Twin Pines cell tower will be awarded at the Township Committee meeting on June 23
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
Good news appears to be on the near horizon for opponents of T-Mobile’s approved plan to put nine cell antennas on a water tower off Pennington-Lawrenceville Road.
The water tower is at the northern edge of the 1,300-unit Brandon Farms development. Brandon Farms is served by Trenton water, which owns the tower.
It appears Hopewell Township’s negotiations with T-Mobile on placing a cell tower on the former Twin Pines Airport tract — instead of antennas on the water tower — have been successful.
At Monday night’s Township Committee meeting, township Administrator/Engineer Paul Pogorzelski indicated there’s a good possibility that “a bid on the Twin Pines cell tower will be awarded at the next Township Committee meeting,” scheduled for June 23.
Months ago, the township Planning Board approved T-Mobile’s application to put the antennas on the water tower. Board members said they had no choice but to approve the plan, since it was in compliance with the township zoning code. The code has since been amended to make it much more difficult for applicants to put cell towers or antennas in residential areas.
A public outcry after approval of the T-Mobile plan was marked by a request that the township try to get T-Mobile to scrap the antennas in lieu of a cell phone tower in a wooded portion of the Twin Pines Airport tract, across Pennington-Lawrenceville Road from the water tower.
The grass portion of Twin Pines is being converted to athletic fields, under an agreement involving Mercer County, Lawrence Township and the Hopewell Valley communities.