Greetings:
The Town of New Lebanon in New York State is working to revise it's Telecommunications Code. (Revision attached) Link to current code: https://ecode360.com/5150387 (also attached)
New Lebanon is also forming a Technology Committee which will, among other things, seek "to expand cell phone service throughout the town, researching ways that municipalities can work with cell phone
service providers to expand service especially in the dead zones that currently exist".
On February 14, 2023, the Town Board of New Lebanon was presented with a draft of the revised Telecom Code. The Town Board then agreed to table that code until the Technology Committee was seated, so that it could provide
it's input to the Town Board.
I am to be seated on the new Technology Committee. We are going to find a way to expand cell service in the Town while protecting the health, safety, and welfare of it's residents. We hope to make it a model for small towns throughout New York State and rural areas across the
nation.
In the past few days, the privileges of time, access, and input that had been granted to the Technology Committee have been stripped away through "backroom" manuvering out of the public eye. It has become clear that the Town Board will reverse itself at it's upcoming meeting on March 14th and direct that
the current draft of the revised Telecom Code be finalized as it is, without any additional changes, and put through the ratification process for Local Laws before the Technology Committee is seated.
We have one week to educate the Town Board and advocate for a stronger, more protective Telecom Code,
otherwise it will be two more years before the Telecom Code comes up again and by that time, it will be too late because the Technology Committee will have already reached out to service providers and invited them in to provide expanded cell service to the Town of New Lebanon.
We are looking for e-mail
testimony on the following subjects:
1. The need for expanded setbacks. The current draft has setbacks at 500'. We want to press for more protective setbacks of at least 750', but more preferably 1000'.
2. The need for an enhanced, more detailed application for wireless telecommunications facilities / cell towers. The application is the Town's best defense against frivolous and unqualified applicants and the Town's best defense against shoddy equipment and fires.
3. Testimony that the FCC's standards for Human Exposure are outdated and inadequate, that the FCC has failed to revisit those standards despite a court order, and that local communities must take the most protective, precautionary approach through drafting the strongest possible Telecommunications Code, including larger setbacks and stronger application requirements for applicants.
4. Testimony from those who have been injured by the improper and unsafe siting of telecommunications equipment close to where they live or work, from those who suffer from Microwave Radiation Syndrome or electro-sensitivity.
5. The legal requirement for applicants to demonstrate legitimate need for coverage through a Gap Analysis to be performed at the cost of the applicant. The Town of New Lebanon has no requirement for the conducting of a Gap Analysis, either in it's current code or in it's proposed revision. At the time of this writing, I am told that the Town has terrible cell service. (My wife and I do not have
cell phones.) It is clear that certain political interests seek to benefit from a quick and easy solution which does not overly burden the Telecom Service Providers. Nevertheless, without a requirement for Gap Analysis, the Town of New Lebanon will be an easy target, even after it's legitimate needs have been met, and prey for any company that wants to come in and expand capacity, but asserts the "need" without having any legal requirement to prove there is a gap.
There is strength in numbers and power in our movement. Please help me in my Town of New Lebanon, New York. Together let us set another example for all of those who are facing these choices and these issues in their own community.
Please share this Action Alert amongst your contacts in the movement and disseminate it through your own mailing lists.
Please send e-mails / letters of support for the above points to the following
e-mail addresses. (A group e-mail to all of the addresses would be just fine.)
Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling <supervisor@townofnewlebanon.com>,Councilor Marianna Anthonisen <manthonisen@townofnewlebanon.com>,Councilor Deb Gordon <dgordon@townofnewlebanon.com>,Councilor Britt Buckenroth <bbuckenroth@townofnewlebanon.com>,Councilor John Trainor <jtrainor@townofnewlebanon.com>,Town Clerk <townclerk@townofnewlebanon.com>,Jean-Georges Perrin <jgp@jgp.ai,Michael Muadin <michael.muadin.tutor@gmail.com>,Ted Salem <nlzba.salem@gmail.com>,Donald Lamonaca <nlcac.lamonaca@gmail.com>,Elizabeth Brutsch <nlpb.brutsch@gmail.com,Jim Carroll <nlpb.carroll@gmail.com>,Greg Hanna <nlpb.hanna@gmail.com,Tony Murad <nlzba.murad@gmail.com
Thank you for kind attention to this request for help and for any assistance and support that you and your organizations might give.
Sincerely yours in the service of our people, our movement, and our cause.
