Maine firefighters say they need better wireless communication

Firefighters and residents are up in arms over the issue because of a planned cell tower

August 17, 2012 05:34 AM

By Leslie H Dixon
Sun Journal

OTISFIELD, Maine — Three town department heads told selectmen Wednesday night that better wireless communications are needed for safety reasons, but they shied away from mentioning the controversial tower proposed for Scribner Hill.

That didn’t stop the controversy from erupting once again.

Fire Chief Mike Hooker, Emergency Management Director Frank Blauvelt and Road Commissioner Richard Bean spent nearly 30 minutes explaining why they think the tower -- it would be the first in town -- is necessary.

But when resident John Poto tried to speak on the issue he was cut off. He’s a member of Friends of Scribner Hill, a group suing the town over the 180-foot tower.

Poto began by thanking selectmen for “opening up the lines of communication” but in about a minute he was shut down by selectmen.

“You’re taking up all our time,” Chairman Hal Ferguson said. “We respect your right (to speak) but you’re running out of time.”

While the Board of Selectmen does not have to provide time for the public to speak, it traditionally schedules a public participation agenda item so people can speak for less than 5 minutes. Department heads are also given time but are asked to put in a request to speak and details of the subject by 5 p.m. the previous Friday.

No one was listed in either category on Wednesday’s agenda.

Fire Chief Michael Hooker said Monday that he didn’t know department heads were planning to attend Wednesday’s meeting to talk about the cell tower and he didn’t intend to be there unless requested.

Also Monday, Selectman Rick Micklon said in an interview that he was hearing from department heads and others about their concern that the project could be lost because of published reports about the Friends’ claim its voice was denied in the fact-finding process.

On Wednesday, Hooker and about half a dozen other department heads showed up at the meeting and selectmen asked them to speak on the tower issue. Hooker, who was first, said he wanted to talk about the benefits of improved wireless communications and “put it on record” what they are.

He said it is imperative that wireless communications be improved for safety reasons.

“That’s what’s important. That if someone is calling 911 they can reach us,” he said.

Blauvelt, director of emergency management, said he also sees the need for improved wireless communication, but understood the frustration from both sides. “I hope that the two sides can get together and iron out their problems without causing a lot of hurt and bad feelings,” he said.

“I’m no negotiator,” he said. “But someone could get in the middle of this without collecting $300 an hour. I sympathize with the Friends of Scribner Hill but it hasn’t convinced me the tower shouldn’t be built.”

Bean said he was particularly concerned for the safety of the men and women who plow snow for the town in the winter because of the lack of communication.

“Unless something does happen before winter, we’re not going to have any communication,” he said.

Planning Board Chairman Dan Peaco was asked by selectmen if he had anything to say and he declined.

Board secretary Tayna Taft said she supported the tower because of the difficulty she has had getting cellphone connections during an emergency.

Poto said it was clear that only certain people were being allowed to talk about wireless communications in Otisfield at the selectmen’s meeting.

“I wasn’t going to discuss litigation. Oh I get it. Let other people speak. It’s their right,” he told Ferguson.

Friends of Scribner Hill and others presented their facts at the Board of Appeals hearing in March. The hearing was held on the group’s appeal of the Planning Board’s January permit approval for the U.S. Cellular tower. Since that time, the group says it has been shut out of public conversation on the issue.

On July 9, Friends of Scribner Hill and individual plaintiffs James Gregory, Kristin Roy, Joseph Brown and Poto attempted to have the court remand the permit decision back to the Planning Board for another full hearing. They said the town did not follow its telecommunications ordinance and that some abutters to the project were not notified of the hearings and had no input into the project.

The permitting process is now under Oxford County Superior Court supervision while the Planning Board draws up court-ordered “facts of findings.”