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Date: 12/21/2020
SOUTHWICK – After two Verizon balloon floats on Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, the Southwick Planning Board once again continued the public hearing for a proposed Verizon Cell Tower off Liberty Lane at its Dec. 15 meeting.
Planning Board Vice Chair Marcus Phelps, who took over the hearing once again for Chair Michael Doherty, explained the next steps in the process as the board looks to close the hearing at its Jan. 5, 2021 meeting.
“My expectation is that we will close the hearing on Jan. 5 [2021], that’s not set in stone, but that would be my hope. Once the hearing is closed, the Planning Board members will have 90 days to put together a decision, normally it doesn’t take that long so hopefully in two meetings we have some deliberation and preparation for our final decision,” he said.
After residents brought an attorney in to discuss their case at the last meeting, residents were represented by Samuele Rivas at the Dec. 15 meeting, who said Verizon was acting in bad faith when it came taking pictures of the balloon float.
“They wanted to take the pictures that comply with your suggestion to take pictures from properties, however we were unable to have a final agreement signed because Verizon operated in bad faith. What I mean by that is Verizon wanted to shift all the risk on the homeowners and they also introduced language that the pictures were taken for the benefit of the property owners,” he said.
Attorney Michael Fenton, who once again represented Verizon at the hearing, said that he had to respond to the accusation that Verizon acted in bad faith when planning the balloon float.
“I cannot let the accusation that Verizon has acted in bad faith or provided evidence that is of absolutely no value to stand uncontested. We would remind the board that we have, at every turn, complied with every request from this board and the town, we have complied with each of the municipal regulations, particularly those in your telecommunications code,” he said.
After responding to Rivas’ claim, Fenton said the balloon float from Dec. 12 had to be redone because of tampering with the float.
“Our consultants noticed immediately that the float had been raised in height. Upon that realization, Verizon’s consultants retreated to the site with a member of the Planning Board and discovered the equipment had been altered and raised the balloon an additional 30 feet,” he said.
Fenton added that consultants with Verizon had reason to believe the balloon was tampered with and filed a police report with the Southwick Police Department.
Planning Board member David Spina said he helped Verizon when the balloon went down at the Dec. 12 float.
“At approximately 1:15 p.m. I was approached by a Verizon consultant who said the balloon looked higher than it should be, and the line was extended about 30 feet too far. We reeled it back in and then let it back out at 120 feet. I didn’t observe anything that would contribute to it being released by somebody or a malfunction, but it was definitely out too high,” he said.
To make up for the float on Dec. 12, Verizon agreed to put up another balloon float on Dec. 18 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Despite striking the Dec. 12 float from the record, one resident, Deb Patryn, said she could see the balloon directly behind her house, which could affect her property values as established in previous meetings.
“Most of the people I saw were at the bottom of my driveway because our house is a direct abutter. You could see the balloon right in my backyard, it was clearly visible looking from my driveway into the backyard. I just wanted the Planning Board to know that will directly affect our property value,” she said.
The Southwick Planning Board next meets on Jan. 5 to continue the public hearing over the proposed Verizon cell tower.