Nov. 16--A plan to build a 125-foot-tall cellular tower on Yaphank Fire Department land has put firefighters at odds with Brookhaven Town officials: pitting the desire to improve emergency communications against efforts to preserve a historic district.
The proposed tower, which East Islip-based Suffolk Wireless wants to build behind the Main Street firehouse, would substantially improve the department's ability to respond to fires, Yaphank Fire District officials said.
But the town's 13-member Historic District Advisory Committee has twice voted down the proposal on the grounds that it is in one of Brookhaven's 15 protected historic districts.
Suffolk Wireless and Yaphank fire officials have said they will try again to convince town officials to approve the new equipment, but they doubt it will happen this year.
"For us, it's because we are looking at our communications, and we have a serious problem with our communications," said Bill Peters, a Yaphank fire commissioner.
Barbara Russell, Brookhaven's historian and a member of the historical oversight committee, said Suffolk Wireless might have to alter its application to gain approval, because the cellular tower would be a jarring sight in a largely rural historic area.
"They are applying to have this very large pole, and unfortunately they are right at the gateway to the historic district," Russell said. "Basically, it's an adverse visual impact to the historic district."
Suffolk Wireless would lease space on the tower to private phone carriers and allow the fire district to place its antenna on the tower, said representatives for the company and the district.
Peters said the district's communications suffer because some of its key equipment lies at the extreme north end of the department's territory. The tower would centralize the communications equipment, he said.
The tower would also be a financial windfall for the fire district, as Suffolk Wireless would pay the district $100,000 for the land, said Peters. Additionally, phone carriers would pay the district $3,500 per month to place equipment on the tower, he said.
Joy Mooney, one of the principals of Suffolk Wireless and a Yaphank resident, said four private phone carriers are interested in placing equipment on the tower. Cell reception in the area is poor, which is a problem for emergency calls, she said.
"It's not about being able to text from home or check your email," Mooney said. "It's about being able to make a 911 call."
Suffolk Wireless last week met with a local civic group, which voted 14-4 in favor of the tower. Peters said he hopes the group's confidence vote will help the tower plan gain approval.
"We cannot reach all of you, to protect all of you, with the coverage that we now have," Donna Holecek, a Yaphank fire commissioner, said at the civic meeting.
