Plans, including design and expected revenue, for a on the Kings Park School District’s San Remo Property, were presented to the board of education at Thursday evening’s meeting.
According to the details of the plan, which were laid out by Bryan Felton of Suffolk Wireless Communication, the company that would install the tower, the tower would be a 125-foot stealth monopole that can house up to six carriers. Felton said that five carriers is what is expected for the pole, generating a monthly income for the district of $7,500 with total expected revenue of $4.2 million at the end of the 30-year agreement.
The pole would be installed just east of the driveway that enters the parking area. Felton said that location was chosen so not to detract from the day-to-day operations of the district’s administration building, which is housed on the property. The building also holds the New Discovery Day Care Center. According to superintendent Susan Agruso, the center had not been able to meet the required rent needed to cover the costs of operating out of that location.
Cell coverage of the tower would be between a mile and one-half miles according to Joy Mooney of Suffolk Wireless.
A series of steps would be required to move forward with the plan. According to Saverio Belfiore, architect at engineering firm H2M, the district would be required to file with the State Education Department, which issues permits for school district construction. Belfiore also said that all public agencies must comply with a State Environmental Quality Review determination to “ensure that the environmental implications are looked at," and that H2M would be the agency conducting that review.
The safety of radio frequency emissions was of concern to some who attended the meeting. Ariella Werner said she lives four houses down from the property and is not comfortable with a tower going up.
“My three-year-old goes to New Discovery. I am new to Kings Park but I am not feeling very welcome with New Discovery closing and a cell phone tower being built in my backyard,” she said.
Dan Collins, of Pinnacle Telecom Group, which, specializes in studying antennas and radio frequency transmissions said the tower would fall under the allowable limit set by the Federal Communication Commission.
“I can draw a very human analogy of what .9 of 1 percent means. Humans give off the equivalent of one-quarter of 1 percent of that FCC standard which is .25. If I went home and gathered my family in a group hug, we would are actually adding up to one percent. If you aren’t worried about group hugs you don’t have to worry about this facility,” said Collins.
According to the timeline presented, if the board were to agree to go forward with the project, construction would begin Oct. 2012 with an expected completion date of Jan. 2013.
The board is expected to vote on whether to approve the go ahead for a SEQRA review at next month's meeting.
A copy of the entire presentation that was given at the board meeting can be found in the photo gallery section of this article.
