By Celeste Katz Marston — Celeste@theconcordbridge.org
The town is wasting no time calling for proposals for a cell tower at the Umbrella Arts Center — while seeking to allay the fears of some tenants and neighbors.
Deputy Town Manager Megan Zammuto said at Monday’s Select Board meeting that a request for proposals would go out next week. Anyone who wants the contract would have to specify how they’d minimize the impact on people in and around the building.
The town will also do its own testing, she said.
“We’re issuing this RFP to learn more about how a vendor could meet our criteria to improve cell service downtown in this location and understand the details of what that potential project would look like,” Zammuto said.
Concord’s notoriously spotty wireless coverage has spurred demands for a solution, not only for convenience but for emergency communication. The trouble, for years, has been finding a spot (or spots) for a tower.
The Select Board heard from Zammuto last month about plans to request proposals for the Walden Street landfill site and the Umbrella building on Stow Street, improving coverage for the south and central areas of town.
Given a lack of open space and existing town restrictions on tower placement near homes, “We’re trying to solve this problem in the least impactful way,” she said Monday.
‘Independent test’
Zammuto also directly addressed residents who’ve written to the Select Board to object to the Umbrella site. “We hear the concerns that you’re sharing regarding the level of electromagnetic radiation,” she said.
To that end, “we are planning to work with our consultant to do what we can do to conduct an independent test to measure the level of electromagnetic radiation [so] that we can advise on the real-world impacts of such a facility.”
She also noted that a proposer would have to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a waiver, and the ZBA “would have a public hearing with an opportunity for formal public comment [on] the specific project.”
Government sources, including the Federal Communications Commission, largely say living and working near cell antennas is safe. Critics of such assurances say the data they cite is — at the very least — outdated.
‘Distraught’
Verizon eyed the Umbrella cupola as a possible tower site in 2018. In the face of residents’ objections, the Select Board told the company to keep looking.
Separately, former Select Board Chair Henry Dane recently told The Concord Bridge he’s still trying to “facilitate” a deal to place a Verizon device at the TriCon Church on Walden Street to improve Concord Center’s coverage.
Complaints about lousy wireless service are commonplace, and resident letters to the Select Board this month acknowledged the problem — but still rejected the Umbrella as a solution.
“As someone who lives across the street from the TriCon Church, and who has a studio at the Umbrella, and is sensitive to EMFs, I am distraught,” wrote Liza Carter of Hubbard Street.
“I can’t fathom what it would be like to have towers both where I live and where I work. I will likely have to leave my home of 33 years and move elsewhere.”
