East Quogue Fire Department to Present New Communications Plan at Meeting

Over the past two years, the East Quogue Fire Department has faced fierce opposition to a plan to construct a cell tower at its firehouse on Montauk Highway to improve communications.  Now, it is ready to present a new plan to the public that the department believes is a solution that everyone can get behind. 

"While the fire district never believed that the cell tower plan was going to be a health hazard to the members of the fire department or to our residents, we did decide that right or wrong, it was not worth continuing on with this plan in the face of the organized opposition," the department wrote to residents in a recently-dated letter. 

With that, the district said it has scrapped its plan to construct a monopole and also severed ties with T-Mobile, the company the fire department was partnering with to build the cell tower. 

On Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. the district's fire commissioners will present its new plan, which calls for a the installation of a solid steel pole with straight antennas and a new electronic siren to a height of 100 feet directly behind the main firehouse.

To pay for the new antenna, siren and radio room, the fire district said  that it will use about $185,000 of its communication reserve funds to complete this project.

Patch wants to know: What do you think of the new plan? Let us know in the comment section below.