Lawrence council to consider cell tower

By Lea Kahn / Staff Writer
   A proposed cell tower on township-owned land on Carter Road may move one step closer to reality, if Township Council authorizes Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun to develop bid specifications for the tower Tuesday.
   Township Council will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. to consider a resolution authorizing Mr. Krawczun to take that step. The meeting will be held in the Council meeting room at the Municipal Building.
   The council was prepared earlier this year to let Mr. Krawczun seek bids from cell phone companies to install one or two towers on the 2-acre parcel on Carter Road, adjacent to the Bristol-Myers Squibb campus. The township would lease the land to the successful bidder, who would also build the cell towers and the equipment cabinets for them.
   But the council agreed to hold off on the decision until after a lawsuit, filed by a cell phone company against the Lawrence Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, could be settled. New Cingular Wireless PCS LLC sued after the zoning board denied its request for a use variance to build a tower on the Peterson’s Nursery property on Route 206.
   Last month, former Township Councilman Greg Puliti asked Township Council to reconsider and put the issue back on the council’s agenda for two reasons — to raise revenue and to benefit the township’s emergency services, including the three volunteer fire companies. Mr. Puliti is a member of the Slackwood Fire Co.
   Friday morning, Mayor Mark Holmes announced in a press release that he would introduce a plan at the council’s Tueday night meeting to offset the costs of emergency services by using the revenue generated by leasing the Carter Road site to cell phone companies.
   Earlier this month, Mr. Krawczun presented Township Council with a proposed strategic plan for the township’s volunteer fire companies. The plan would provide a structure for maintaining the volunteer fire companies and also calls for an assessment of all three fire companies’ resources, including equipment and personnel.
   One element of the strategic plan calls for crews to remain at the firehouses overnight to supplement the volunteers. The strategic plan also recommends ensuring that each fire station is outfitted with the necessary equipment, which will require additional township resources, Mayor Holmes said in a press release.
   One revenue source was found by re-evaluating the option of leasing the Carter Road parcel to the cell phone companies, Mayor Holmes said, adding that it is important to identify revenue sources that would not further burden township property owners.
   ”Given the growing needs of the township’s emergency services, the council cannot overlook this valuable revenue generator that is currently underutilized,” Mayor Holmes said. “It is imperative that the council find ways to provide necessary services to the community without increasing the tax burden on our citizens. The use of this town resource to fund emergency services is the right answer.”