Daniel Schweigard, a representative of Independent Towers Holdings, LLC, a wireless communications tower company, approached the Inlet Town Board at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 13 about the possibility of placing a cell phone tower in Inlet.
Schweigard has been talking to the board for the past few years about utilizing some high ground behind Fern Park for the creation of a cell phone tower, according to Town Supervisor John Frey.
Earlier this week, Frey said Schweigard was approached by AT&T who, according to Frey, is seeking to place six towers in various areas of the Adirondack Park.
AT&T was looking for information on where they should go, where they could go, what was ready, and what was available to them.
It was after discussion with AT&T that Schweigard approached the board again.
“They gave a presentation to the town board and stated that our location on top of Fern Mountain is one of the locations they are looking at. I believe that they are also looking at one on top of Heroux Hill across from the EZ-Mart, as well as one other location that they did not share with us,” Frey said.
AT&T is looking for two locations in the area, one in Inlet and one in Raquette Lake, according to Frey.
However, at this time, no official lease has been signed and no location has been chosen.
However, AT&T did supply Schweigard with a letter of commitment outlining their interest in the area.
“That’s about as close as you can get to having them here without a signed lease,” Frey said.
If Inlet and Raquette Lake are chosen as locations for the cell towers, users would have access to cellular reception throughout the corridor ranging from Old Forge to Blue Mountain.
This would bring an increase in cell phone reception of about 95 percent.
“The board told them, yes we are interested, but we are also interested in what is the best location in town for the tower that would best serve the people. Our only request is that they allow us to place some emergency service communication on top of whatever tower they do place in town,” Frey said.
According to Frey, the generic lease presented to the board was for $12,000 a month on the land for forty years.
The lease would be contracted through Independent Towers and the project would be of no cost to the town.
“They say they can have it up and running within six months, however, it is all still very dependent upon the permit process with the APA, and getting the utilities companies to get the utilities to the location,” Frey said.
