After residents voiced concerns, the Board of Selectmen decided Tuesday to forgo approval of two contracts related to a widely discussed proposal to erect a cell tower in the woods behind West School.
Reiterating what citizens have been saying for months regarding plans to study cell coverage in New Canaan and to survey residents about their service, Selectman Kathleen Corbet said during the Board’s regular meeting that a newly appointed Utilities Commission should decide which companies will help the town.
“I’m not going to approve this because I really want to see the Utilities Commission be able to step up and decide what the community survey is going to look like and how the coverage analysis is going to be done,” Corbet said during the selectmen’s meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
Selectman Nick Williams, long wary of First Selectman Kevin Moynihan’s push for the town’s selected partner in improving cell service, Homeland Towers, to pursue the West School option, said he would prefer to “table” the two contracts—with V-Comm Telecommunications Engineering (coverage) and Great Blue Research, Inc. (survey)—indefinitely.
Yet Corbet said she wanted to discuss the items first, and in doing so she cited comments from the public.
During a public comments section at the top of the meeting, New Canaan resident Barbara Wills said she was excited about the prospect of appointing members of a Utilities Commission (see below).
“And I would respectfully like to request that no actions about cell service or the evaluation of it be taken until the Utilities Commission is seated,” Wills said.
Corbet also read out the following letter, submitted Monday by resident Christopher Williams, like Wills a neighbor of the West School property: “I was disappointed to learn of Mr. Moynihan’s most recent attempt to circumvent due process through the soon-to-be-formed Utilities Commission and directly advance his stated objective of cellular tower development with biased parties of VComm and Homeland Towers. It’s evident that Homeland Towers was the firm that introduced him to VComm. The purpose of the Utilities Commission is to form a group of unbiased, qualified and resourceful individuals who, among other things, can comprehensively and objectively assess the need for better cell service and to consider all options available today and in the future for our town. This includes running formal RFP processes and soliciting various qualified and independent third parties. I believe the Utilities Commission is being formed imminently, and my understanding from the last several meetings was that this is the first order of business. Once formed, the Utilities Commission should directly develop the scope of work for the cellular service needs assessment, then RFP to several qualified firms without direct ties to Homeland Towers or Mr. Moynihan. The consulting firm should report directly to the Utilities Commission, not Mr. Moynihan, throughout the engagement. The same goes for the cellular service community survey proposed by Great Blue Research. Here, it’s especially important that Utilities Commission members with experience in survey writing review the survey and avoid survey bias, leading questions and ‘back-solving’ to an intended outcome. Cell service demand needs to be appropriately contextualized versus the costs borne by our town’s residents and environment. We must follow due process and not only ensure transparency and objectivity, but also to achieve the best overall outcome for our town. On this basis, Mr. Moynihan’s recommended proposal falls short.”
The push to re-activate the New Canaan Utilities Commission stems from wide community resistance to Moynihan’s push for a cell tower behind West School.
In December 2017, one month after winning the first selectman race by 33 votes, Moynihan said that he wished to dissolve the Utilities Commission while redistributing some of its responsibilities—such as cell coverage, natural gas and solar energy. Tom Tesluk, then-chair of the Utilities Commission, had resigned the day after Moynihan narrowly defeated Kit Devereaux. And though Devereaux, who went on to serve as a selectman, argued in favor of preserving the Commission, the volunteer body’s last meeting agenda was posted in December 2018.
The town’s effort to erect the cell tower behind West School emerged one year ago and, despite a push from Homeland Towers, met with enough resistance from Williams and other New Canaan residents that it was stalled while opponents pushed for the Utilities Commission to be reactivated—ostensibly to remove the job of improving cell coverage from the first selectman alone. Ultimately, New Canaan’s legislative body, the Town Council, decided to update the local ordinance regarding the Utilities Commission in order for it to re-activate.
Those advocating for the West School cell tower have included New Canaan Fire Department representatives who say better coverage is needed to transmit data during emergency calls. Others have said cell service remains spotty on the west side of town for residents as well as prospective homebuyers, and that New Canaan already has kids playing outside near cell towers, such as at New Canaan High School.
Those opposed to the West School cell tower include an EMT who says that two-way radios work perfectly well in the area of the school and are what those in EMS use to communicate. Others have raised concerns about the potential health effects of a cell tower on children, have said that there’s already adequate coverage in the area and have said an unsightly 145-foot “monopole” tower could harm property values.
Moynihan said during this week’s meeting that VComm is a reputable company that can conduct its “drive test” to establish coverage for little money.
“I do not personally have any questions about their independence and their lack of bias,” Moynihan said.
Even so, after his fellow selectmen voiced concerns, Moynihan did not pursue a vote on the two cellular-related contracts.
The Board did vote 3-0 in favor of appointing a new nine-member Utilities Commission. Members appointed include Hiran Cantu, Bernard Clarke Jr., Mike Collins, Sven Englund, Jill Guzzetti, Janee Hunter, Christa Kenin, Karim Khiar and Rich Townsend. Moynihan noted that there are three qualified lawyers on the body (Guzzetti, Hunter and Kenin).
Williams said, “As someone who was on this Board for the first go around of the Utilities Commission, I’m really excited and more convinced than ever that this is the right thing to do. And Kathleen, we’ve got a plethora of riches in terms of the volunteers who have stepped up. It’s not just about a cellphone tower. It’s about utilities generally and a lot of discussions that I had with these candidates had nothing to do with cellphones. So this is a good day for New Canaan.”
Corbet and Williams said they both support the idea of changing the Utilities Commission from nine members to seven regular members plus three alternates, in order to ensure that there’s flexibility on the appointed body for meeting attendance.