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The Adirondack Park
Agency says it’s pleased with work performed so far by Verizon and
other cell service providers on a series of new cell towers along
the Adirondack Northway.
Meanwhile, the APA
has its hands full with more than a dozen pending applications for
telecommunications projects around the park.
APA Regulatory
Programs Director Mark Sengenberger said last week that compliance
checks have been occurring on the existing constructed towers along
the Northway. “Overall we’re extremely pleased with the way things
are coming out in the field,” he told the agency’s Regulatory
Programs Committee.
APA planner George
“Skip” Outcalt delivered a slide show that compared simulations of
the proposed towers to what they look like now that they’ve been
built.
“Generally speaking
we’re very satisfied with the way things have come out,” he said.
“There’s been at least nine sites developed along the Northway in
the last year or so that have improved coverage tremendously along
that corridor. Several more will be built this year, probably three
or four more by Verizon, possibly some by T-Mobile as well as some
co-locations coming up with AT&T. So the coverage is going to
improve this year and we expect it to improve each year as we go
forward in the next several years.”
Despite the progress,
agency staff has worked with Verizon and other providers to address
a few concerns such as painting the Northway towers with darker
colors to blend in with the surrounding landscape.
Plastic needles are also being put
on the cell panels of at least one Northway tower to better screen
the structure. The plastic does not interfere with the cell signal,
Outcalt said.
Across the park, the
APA is currently reviewing a total of 15 applications for
telecommunications projects.
Sengenberger said the
list includes six proposals from Verizon for free-standing towers
and one co-location on an existing pre-1973 tower. Another six
applications have been received from T-Mobile for new free-standing
towers and one co-location on an existing tower.
AT&T has also applied
for a general permit from the park agency. “They’re starting to
ramp up and anticipate getting a number of applications into us
later this year,” Sengenberger said.
Two tower projects
will likely be on the park agency’s July agenda – applications from
Verizon and T-Mobile to build cells towers adjacent to the
northbound High Peaks Rest Area.
In other business
last week, the agency board agreed to let its staff handle the
review of the revised design for the Lake Placid Conference Center.
Sengenberger had
asked the board, which had approved the previous conference center
plan, whether it wanted to review the latest designs or allow agency
staff to handle the revised project.
Commissioner Art
Lussi said he was comfortable with bypassing the board. “My
recommendation would be to let staff review it, especially because
it’s not as tall,” he said. “It’s not the walls of glass that was
proposed in the past.”
Sengenberger said
they’ve been impressed with the re-design. “I think we’re very
comfortable,” he said. “It appears smaller in scale. The wall is
broken up with a number of wood partitions between the glass areas,
there’s more stone beneath and it has a much more pedestrian feel to
it.”
Sengenberger said
ORDA is anxious to begin construction on the conference center
project.
-Chris Knight, 6-17-09 |