Lawrence Council votes to seek Carter Road cell tower bids

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Despite the protests of parents and neighbors, Township Council gave the go-ahead to Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun to prepare bid specifications for one or two cell towers on township-owned land on Carter Road.
   More than 60 people — including mothers with young children, neighbors and volunteer firefighters — filled the Township Council meeting room Tuesday night to air their concerns before Township Council voted 3-2 to authorize the manager to proceed.
   Mayor Mark Holmes and council members Pam Mount and Michael Powers — all Democrats — voted for the resolution to allow Mr. Krawczun to prepare bid specifications. Republican Councilmen Bob Bostock and Rick Miller voted against it.
   The 2-acre township-owned parcel on Carter Road is located near the entrance to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. campus. The towers would be located about 500 feet from the company’s day-care center, which raised the ire of parents whose children attend the center.
   Earlier this year, the council agreed to hold off on seeking bids until after a lawsuit, filed by a cell phone company against the 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 at Province Line Road. The lawsuit has not been settled.
   But last week, Mayor Holmes announced that he would introduce a plan at the Township Council meeting to offset the costs of emergency services by using revenue generated by leasing the Carter Road site to cell phone companies. The cell tower also would have an antenna for use by the Lawrence Township Police Department and the three volunteer fire companies to improve communications.
   Tuesday night, Tall Timbers Drive resident Len DiDonato reminded Township Council that it had pledged not to take any action until after the lawsuit was settled. The council has violated that pledge, he said.
   Mr. DiDonato said that although Mayor Holmes claims the reason for leasing the land for cell towers is to raise revenue, the spin-off is that the tower would reduce the value of his Tall Timbers Drive property by $80,000 to $100,000. His home is located across the street from the site of the proposed towers.
   Larkspur Lane resident Cristina Casole, who works at Bristol-Myers Squibb and whose two children attend the day-care center, presented the council with a petition bearing 278 signatures in protest of the proposed towers. The signers were a mix of company employees with and without children at the day-care center, and concerned residents.
   Ms. Casole suggested to Mayor Holmes that rather than build one or two cell towers to generate additional revenue to pay for emergency services, property owners could be asked to pay an extra $3 in property taxes for that purpose.
   ”I’m sure that I, as a taxpayer, would not mind paying a few extra dollars for the safety of my children,” Ms. Casole said, adding that many studies have shown that radiation from cell towers is harmful to adults and may be harmful to children.
   Mayor Holmes replied that he has received calls from township residents regarding property taxes. He said that he “knows one thing for sure — these are the hardest economic times I have seen in 47 years.” Economic conditions require Township Council to make difficult and hard decisions, he added.
   Mayor Holmes also pointed out that there are 15 cell towers spread out among the township’s residential neighborhoods. There is a cell tower in his own neighborhood, he said, adding that he has two young children, also.
   ”I know this comes down to NIMBY (not in my back yard),” he said of the objections. “(But) we need to look at every option possible to get revenue. I thought under these conditions, the right thing to do was to bring (the cell towers) back to Township Council.”
   Mr. Bostock countered that before Township Council goes back on its promise not to seek bids for the cell towers, it should look at ways to cut the budget. Mr. Krawczun managed to cut $391,000 from the 2008 budget when the township lost state aid this year, he said.
   Barnett Road resident Falk Engel, who also serves on the Planning Board, pointed out that the revenue raised by the cell towers would go into the township’s general fund. It would not be earmarked specifically for the three volunteer fire departments, he said.
   But William Hom, who lives on Tomlyn Drive near the Peterson’s Nursery site, urged the council to go ahead with the Carter Road site for other reasons, including solving the issue of spotty communications between dispatchers and emergency services workers in the northern end of the township.
   Mr. Hom also noted that while there has been “an emotional plea” regarding the dangers of the communications towers, many of the objectors use cell phone and allow their children to use cell phones.
   Alice Chandler, who also lives on Tomlyn Drive, said parents voluntarily enroll their children at the Bristol-Myers Squibb day-care center. The revenue generated by renting out the Carter Road property would be helpful to homeowners, particularly the elderly who have seen the savings of a lifetime diminished over the past few weeks, she said.
   Volunteer firefighters Ken Kandrac of the Slackwood Fire Co. and Jim Yates of the Lawrence Road Fire Co. said the three volunteer fire companies need financial support. Mr. Yates stressed that the firefighters are all volunteers and receive no pay for responding to an alarm at 3 a.m.
   The two volunteers said their fire companies send out about 2,000 letters each during their respective annual fund drives. Mr. Yates said his company receives about $12,000, which is “not enough to run your own home.” If everyone donated to the fire companies, “we wouldn’t be here,” he said.
   Mr. Yates also said that despite residents’ concerns, it is important to have good communication in the northern end of the township. The dead zone affects the safety of the volunteer firefighters as well as the residents’ safety, he said.
   Tall Timbers Drive resident Eric Wimmers told Township Council that the proposal does not seem like a win-win situation. It’s a good idea to increase revenue, but it should not be done in such a way that it ruins a neighborhood, he said. Reducing the value of the homes near the towers would result in reduced property tax revenue, he added.
   When it came time to act on the resolution to allow Mr. Krawczun to proceed, Mr. Miller reminded the council that the money it would collect from the cell towers would go into the general fund and not specifically for the firefighters. He said he wanted to wait until the lawsuit is resolved, and offered a motion to table the resolution, but it was defeated.
   Mr. Bostock, who voted against the resolution with Mr. Miller, said that when Township Council makes a commitment, it needs to keep it — unless there are times that warrant changing its position.
   Mr. Bostock said nothing has happened since last spring, when the council decided not to go forward with the bid specifications for the towers. He said the council should “let the process play out” and wait for the lawsuit to be settled.
   Ms. Mount said she appreciated residents’ interest in the issue of the cell towers on Carter Road, but she was “discouraged” that some residents do not believe that Township Council takes the issue seriously. The issues are difficult, she said.
   ”I live on a farm and I gave up a lot. There are choices we all make. I hope you will all understand each other’s viewpoint and get over it” once a decision has been made, Ms. Mount said.
   Mr. Powers said that when he looks at an issue such as this one, he seeks consistency of treatment of the residents. He said there are 15 cell towers in various neighborhoods around the township, including one within a short distance of The Lawrenceville School’s dining hall.
   ”Who is outraged about the towers in other neighborhoods. If you are complaining about the tower in your neighborhood, that is hypocritical,” Mr. Power said, adding that if he thought it was a health issue, he would not vote for it.
   Mayor Holmes said he had listened to all of the concerns and understands them, but he felt the right thing to do is to vote for the resolution granting Mr. Krawczun the authority to prepare bid specifications for the tower or towers.