State seeks to lease out cellphone tower land in the Sheepfold Reservation
Published on September 24th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - State officials will seek permission in the coming months to lease out land across from the Sheepfold Reservation in South Stoneham for a cell tower.
According to the proposal, being floated by MassHighway, the state would eventually seek proposals from wireless carriers interested in utilizing approximately 1,600 feet of space nearby I-93 south for a cell-tower or other type of installation.
The lease would carry a 20-year term.
The state's Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM), acting on behalf of MassHighway, must first obtain authorization from the Mass. Asset Management Board (AMB) to move forward with the proposal.
The state entities will hold a public hearing on the matter within the Stoneham Public Library on Oct. 2 at 6 p.m.
According to DCAM representative Nicholas Tsaparlis, if AMB was to approve MassHighway's request, the agency would then solicit requests-for-proposals (RFP) from telecommunications' companies.
MassHighway would consider all such resulting bids, including those from companies that want to construct a cell-tower on the property, which is a median strip situated between Route 28 near the Sheepfold and the I-93 South on-ramp.
“It's not an RFP. It's a public hearing to disclose our intent to site a communications tower on highway land,” said Tsaparlis, explaining the purpose of next month's gathering.
“There's no proposal for the public [to view at this point]. But eventually, we will put out an RFP, if we do get approval. We don't have a specific installation in mind. Usually the respondent will give that to us,” continued the DCAM representative, who recalls several occasions when such RFPs have resulted in no interest.
According to Town Counsel Bill Solomon, the proposed site in question is located within Stoneham's overlay district, a special zoning area established to accommodate cell phone service providers.
Stoneham does allow wireless installations on buildings, but its bylaws technically prohibit cell towers.
By law, a municipality cannot block a telecommunications company from installing wireless equipment, if it can prove that a significant gap in coverage exists that cannot be addressed by reasonable alternative means.
In an interview earlier this week, both Selectmen Frank Vallarelli and Paul Rotondi commented that they did not plan to oppose MassHighway's proposal, as the area in question is right off the highway and away from the population.
However, Rotondi does feel that if the state is going to make revenue from a cell installation on Stoneham land, the town's payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) funding should be adjusted accordingly.
“I don't have a problem with that one,” said Rotondi. “It's not in a residential neighborhood. It's right on the ramp. Overall the state should be giving us more. That's part of our problem. A third of our land we can't even develop.”
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