By Win Smith
As a former business owner and current resident of Warren, I have some concerns about the proposed 140-foot Verizon tower on Airport Road. I am not opposed at all to improving cell service for both residents and visitors to the Mad River Valley. In fact, while owning Sugarbush I realized the importance of having adequate cell coverage to meet the needs of our visitors, which they have come to expect. Sugarbush now has towers at both base areas served by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (formerly Sprint). There is also a VELCO tower at the top of Lincoln Peak which is used by certain first responders. While there are certainly some dead spots on The Valley floor, the cell coverage for the most part is very good throughout The Valley.
I am concerned about the process that Verizon is pursuing and the lack of transparency in the communications to date. On October 31, 2022, Verizon issued a bare-bones written notice of its intention to file an application with the Public Utility Commission (PUC). Under Vermont Law, Verizon is required to provide a 60-day advance notice and to meet with the town planning commission, if requested before filing its formal application. I understand that they have been asked twice to appear before the planning commission’s November 28 and December 12 meetings and have turned down both requests.
While the PUC has the final word as to whether or not to grant Verizon a permit to build a tower, the planning commission and select board are allowed to weigh-in and have a statutory right to intervene in the PUC proceedings. Unfortunately, Valley citizens have no official say in the proceedings, but history has shown that the PUC does listen to community concerns in making their final decision. That is why it is so important for our community to participate in the scheduled meetings, to understand the facts and let their concerns be known.
Questions I have for Verizon are the following:
1). What other potential sites has Verizon explored in the area? I find it curious you have not spoken to Sugarbush where you have an existing tower, although one less than 140-feet in height. Sugarbush owns or leases from the USFS 4,000 acres of land in both the mountains and The Valley. What do your RF studies show as alternative sites to improve coverage?
2). What are the public needs you are intending to benefit? Will this tower add coverage to the well-known dead spots in The Valley? What specific areas will receive cellular coverage where today no coverage is available? Does your Return on Investment come from serving the few hundred homes without cell service, or the few thousand residents in The Valley who already use Verizon? Or are you focused on capturing cell service from the 30,000 unique skiers who come to The Valley each winter and are active users of the Apps on their phones?
3. What will this tower actually look like? What will it do to the aesthetics of The Valley? The Warren Town Plan has identified the Lincoln Peak base area of Sugarbush as the growth area for Warren. How is your proposed location on top of a hill off 908 Airport Road consistent with that? When Verizon constructed its tower on Upper Village Road at Sugarbush, it constructed the tower in a different location and with a different schematic that originally permitted. Why was that?
4). Have you spoken to those responsible for the Warren Airport and other experts and discussed airplane and glider safety concerns regarding a 10-story tower less than a mile from the runway?
I am sure that others will have their own questions, and I am sure our representatives on the planning commission and the select board will have theirs as well. Perhaps the proposed tower is what The Valley needs, and I am very mindful of the economic benefit this could represent to a long-standing local farm. Maintaining our family farms is important to our community. However, tough questions need to be asked and factual answers presented to determine if this is in the best interest of our special community. I am eager to hear from Verizon and certainly open to changing my mind if the facts are presented. However, at this point Verizon has not made the case.
Smith lives in Warren.
