Government

‘It Is a Big Deal’: New Canaan Pursues Major Improvement in Wireless Service

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Town officials plan this month to start soliciting proposals from wireless carriers and developers in order to answer this question, at long last: How can New Canaan address gaps in service in a way that’s aesthetically agreeable to property owners? To this point, carriers themselves have controlled a rather one-sided solution addressing that question, and the response has been largely ineffective—essentially, to erect a tower. Now, thanks to emerging technology—most importantly the far less conspicuous “microcell” sites—and an idea to deliver access to town-owned properties in exchange for creating physical infrastructure that’s palatable for New Canaanites, the town is poised to take a major step forward, officials say. Just issuing a Request For Proposals doesn’t guarantee the desired responses, but it does “create a new opportunity for developers and for carriers who have said it’s frustrating because they cannot get a ‘straight play’ in New Canaan,” said Tom Tesluk, chairman of the all-volunteer Utilities Commission that First Selectman Rob Mallozzi re-grouped during his first term. “What we are trying to do is reach a compromise, a win for both sides, where the town gets better coverage—which is really essential today—and from the carriers’ and developers’ point of view, they would get access to multiple pieces of property, including rights of way on streets, that would allow for new infrastructure that the town feels it could live with.

Government

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

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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.