First Selectman: Consider Irwin Park as First Step in Addressing Cellular Coverage Gaps

Rather than invest more money in a long-term project to solve all cellular coverage problems at once and then wait for a solution to materialize, the town should consider smaller-scale, affordable fixes to start addressing larger service gaps now, New Canaan’s highest elected official said Tuesday.

Thanks to a consultant’s report guided by the New Canaan Utilities Commission, the town knows just where its coverage gaps are located. The question facing New Canaanites is whether to spend some $15,000 on a RFP that could yield a comprehensive solution, or else start immediately chipping away at known dead zones.

Saying a “more broadly based conversation in the community” is needed to see whether it’s worth spending more money now on that complex RFP, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi told members of the commission that rather than become bogged down in the inevitable “tug of war” about cell antenna or tower placement, “we know [the consultants] talked about Irwin Park being an ideal spot to address some of the needs of cell service in town” so New Canaan should think about “at least start moving this thing off the dime, and have a real good look-see at Irwin.”

“I’m all in favor of that comprehensive position, but knowing that we probably will have to go for funding to do that, that delays things—it’s inevitable, whether we are talking about the Saxe building or redoing a roof somewhere or it’s for this,” Mallozzi said at the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “There will be competing for resources and what I don’t want to have happen is we compete for those resources and a year from now you are coming before us saying we are pretty close to the RFP. We have something before us that we can at least talk about, and if there is no appetite for that in the public, then there’s no appetite and we’ll know that very quickly. What I envision is something like we have at Waveny. At Waveny Park we have antennas on the water towers. We don’t have water tower at Irwin, but I’d love to know what we could do with the Irwin building with an antenna or something stealthy hidden in the woods.”

The comments follow a report from Golden, Col.-based Centerline Solutions, published in December that analyzed three private and 57 public properties as possible sites to help address coverage gaps in New Canaan faced by four major carriers (A&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint). In that report, only Irwin Park was identified as “Most Likely” to be a viable cell site location for all four carriers (see appendix pages XIII and XIV here from the Centerline report).

Mallozzi’s comments also come as the Utilities Commission faces an estimated $7,000 shortfall in available funds to develop and see through a RFP that will meet all the coverage needs identified by Centerline.

As Utilities Commissioner Tom Tesluk said at the meeting, the group is looking for “a comprehensive solution to be proposed that would address pretty much all the coverage gaps that the Centerline study hit, and that is going to involve different technologies.”

“It’s not one size fits all,” said Tesluk, who was joined by Utilities Commission Chairman Howard Freeman in updating the selectmen.

Selectman Beth Jones said at the meeting that most residents would support the extra spending as an investment in the comprehensive solution.

“I personally think the comprehensive approach, which includes Irwin Park, is the way to go,” Jones said.

Tesluk and Utilities Commission Chairman Howard Freeman said their biggest concern with a one-off project at a site such as Irwin is that it may preclude a fuller solution later.

“The risk is you do the one site, and galvanize opinion, and then the town loses all appetite for doing anything further and the possible comprehensive solution is put on a shelf,” Tesluk said.

One of additional technology that could help fill out New Canaan’s coverage gap map likely would be “Femtocells,” Tesluk said—individual mobile base stations that connect to the Internet and boost cellular coverage on a small scale.

Mallozzi asked the commission to consider advocating on behalf of New Canaan for the technology—possibly even saving money by purchasing in bulk—as the group did in pushing for solar power in private homes.