Government

Enduring Gratitude for Howard Freeman

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Last week, we lost Howard Freeman to a valiant fight against cancer—a fight that spanned several years, with diagnosis, remission, recurrence, and an aggressive and courageous treatment regimen. You would never know because he didn’t dwell on it. He was that kind of person. Howard exhibited the same kind of quiet courage when he took over as Chairman of the Utility Commission, having only served as Commissioner for a short period of time. Not really knowing all of what would be required of him, Howard leaned into the Chairmanship anyway.

Government

First Selectman: Consider Irwin Park as First Step in Addressing Cellular Coverage Gaps

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Rather than invest more money in a long-term project to solve all cellular coverage problems at once and then wait for a solution to materialize, the town should consider smaller-scale, affordable fixes to start addressing larger service gaps now, New Canaan’s highest elected official said Tuesday. Thanks to a consultant’s report guided by the New Canaan Utilities Commission, the town knows just where its coverage gaps are located. The question facing New Canaanites is whether to spend some $15,000 on a RFP that could yield a comprehensive solution, or else start immediately chipping away at known dead zones. Saying a “more broadly based conversation in the community” is needed to see whether it’s worth spending more money now on that complex RFP, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi told members of the commission that rather than become bogged down in the inevitable “tug of war” about cell antenna or tower placement, “we know [the consultants] talked about Irwin Park being an ideal spot to address some of the needs of cell service in town” so New Canaan should think about “at least start moving this thing off the dime, and have a real good look-see at Irwin.”

“I’m all in favor of that comprehensive position, but knowing that we probably will have to go for funding to do that, that delays things—it’s inevitable, whether we are talking about the Saxe building or redoing a roof somewhere or it’s for this,” Mallozzi said at the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “There will be competing for resources and what I don’t want to have happen is we compete for those resources and a year from now you are coming before us saying we are pretty close to the RFP.

Government

Cellular Coverage Study Completed, To Be Released Tuesday; Gaps Identified, New Sites Proposed

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Based on a widely anticipated report that identifies where cell coverage in New Canaan is “substantially absent,” officials are recommending that the town turn down AT&T’s proposal for a tower at the Transfer Station until it’s clear how service improves with the activation of a cell site at the Norwalk Armory. The Utilities Commission on Monday night in formally approving and endorsing the findings of the “Wireless Market Study for the Town of New Canaan”—a report that should be available on the town’s municipal website some time on Tuesday—also is recommending that the town government “consider using municipal property, municipal rights-of-way, and/or encourage the use of appropriate, selected private properties and properties held in trust for the location of future cell sites in order to expeditiously address the coverage gaps located in the west, northwest, northeast and eastern parts of town.”

In reading from its formal resolution, the commission during its regular monthly meeting, held in the Brooks Room at the New Canaan Nature Center, underscored that any access to public property for a wireless carrier must follow a design that’s “minimally obtrusive and/or employs stealth cell site designs or technology.”

The resolution, endorsed 6-0 by the all-volunteer commission, follows a “drive test” that saw radio-engineering firm Centerline Solutions track cell coverage street-by-street in New Canaan in order to determine signal strength on a granular level—and make some estimates about how much cell service additionally will improve once towers at Silver Hill Hospital and the armory go live. (In fact, Centerline will perform an additional drive test in the eastern part of New Canaan once Silver Hill cell site is active—it will carry AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.)

Led by Commissioner Tom Tesluk, who earned praise on Monday from his colleagues in the group, the months-long effort positions New Canaan well to decide exactly where service is most lacking—a shortfall that the town should try to address, officials say, for public safety as well as quality of life. The commission in its resolution acknowledges that “proposals for erecting tall, obtrusive and visually destructive cell towers in residential neighborhoods are widely unpopular with residents.”

As noted below, the Centerline report evaluates 50 pieces of private and public land that, based on the company’s analysis, could best address gaps in cellular service coverage in New Canaan. According to Centerline’s report, cell coverage is “substantially absent”:

In the area west of Route 124 from Frogtown Road up to the state line with Pound Ridge;
Northwest, north and northeast of Country Club Road between Wydendown Road and the state line and the Wilton town line;
and on Valley Road and the eastern border of the town, stretching from the Merritt Parkway up to the state line at Vista.

Government

Cell Tower at Silver Hill Hospital to Go Live in Early 2015, Officials Estimate

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Cell service on the eastern side of New Canaan stands to improve in early 2015, officials say. The tower installed on Silver Hill Hospital’s campus likely will go live in the first quarter of next year, “at least according to AT&T,” Utilities Commission member Tom Tesluk said at the group’s meeting Monday night, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. The timing at Silver Hill is important to the commission, in part, because the group is overseeing data collection through a “drive test” of town roads that has seen a specially outfitted vehicle record cell strength on a street-by-street basis, providing New Canaan with site-specific data that it’s never had before. That test is essentially finished and a draft map is in the works, Tesluk said, though there’s an open question about whether some areas—the south, southeast and perhaps northeast parts of town—ought to be re-tested once the tower at Silver Hill and a second planned tower, for the Norwalk Armory site, go live. Tesluk cautioned that it may take a while for the Armory tower to go up.

Government

Town Officials on Yankee Gas: ‘The Whole Thing Just Smacks of Bait and Switch’

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Saying Yankee Gas hasn’t played straight with New Canaan, town officials on Monday night opened the possibility of restarting its negotiations—possibly with a different utility—to get natural gas not just to large municipal or commercial buildings but also to residents who want it. It’s been nearly four months since Yankee Gas declared itself “fully committed” to bringing natural gas to New Canaan this fall, and nearly three months since local government and business leaders at a public forum urged the utility to get residents more specific numbers and a timetable for conversion. Yet no concrete plan is in sight. Now, the utility is proposing to town officials a project far smaller in scope that seemingly could leave out private homes, members of the New Canaan Utilities Commission said at their regular meeting Monday night. “I just think we need a plan that reflects a commitment by a company, an energy solution that gives the town the best long-term value,” Commissioner Dan Welch said at the meeting, held in the Brooks Room of the New Canaan Nature Center.