Politics & Government
Civic Says 'No' to T-Mobile Tower
Hearing on cell tower proposal is set for 7 p.m. at Southampton Town Hall.
Members of the the East Quogue Community Advisory Committee and attendees at their meeting Wednesday night spent a good hour discussing a proposal by the East Quogue Fire Department to put up two cell towers on fire district property.
As Al Algieri, honorary board member of the East Quogue Civic Association, who was at the meeting with other members of the civic who had just had their board meeting across the hall at the East Quogue School, said repeatedly that there are too many unanswered questions to take a side about the proposed towers.
Some questions asked were just how many times has the fire department encountered a dead zone that has prohibited their communicating with a firefighter in danger? And why did the fire department not alert community members in due course when they tested the capacity of a 100-foot tower by using a ladder truck at the station on the Main Road? And just how long had the fire commissioners been in talks with T-Mobile, who, as members of the civic’s meeting , wants to erect any tower permitted and pay rent to put their antennas in them.
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All agreed on the necessity to protect first responders, but Algieri and his civic colleagues vehemently questioned the and allow the fire department to install its antennas on them and then pay them $2,200 per tower in rent.
Aside from their unwillingness to let an international corporation profit from a cell tower in East Quogue, Algieri said, on behalf of his fellow civic members, he was concerned the rent would go to a “slush fund” for the fire district.
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Chairwoman Joan Hughes declined to take a position in advance of a Southampton Town Planning Board’s public meeting on the towers.
Hughes' decision caused Bob Kandell, vice president of the civic association, to leave the meeting “Before I blow up.”
Cooler heads will have a chance to ask questions and voice dissent or support at the planning board meeting Thursday night at town hall, which starts at 7 p.m. The cell towers are the second item on the agenda.
