An 125-foot cellphone tower will not be installed in the Village of Saddle Rock, as 55 percent of its residents voted against the project, which would have garnered the village $100,000 per year over the next three decades.
Earlier this month, 155 residents responded to an e-mail questionnaire to decide the future of the project, Village of Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy said during last Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting.
Levy said 83 residents voted against the installation of the cell phone antennae, while 68 were in favor of the project and four abstained from providing their opinion.
“Obviously there is no question that the antenna will be scrubbed,” Levy said.
After reporting the results of the e-mail survey, the board of trustees voted unanimously to scrap the cellphone tower project.
“We have to go along with what the village wants,” Levy said. “The board does not impose their will on anyone. They are the ones who decide.”
The distribution of the e-mail survey came after several months of contentious debate between residents who questioned possible health concerns associated with the tower, while weighing the financial benefit of a deal with a cellphone provider.
Before sending out the e-mail, trustees established that a “super majority” 75 percent of residents would have to be in favor of the project for village officials to go ahead with constructing the single-pole cellphone tower.
Levy said the village has collected 260 e-mail addresses of residents, who received the questionnaire earlier this month. The Village of Saddle Rock has 285 households.
The e-mail contained a description of the project and included a “yes or no” question, as to whether the resident would like to have the cellphone tower installed.
If approved, the project would have secured an annual $100,000 payment to the village for the next 30 years from East Islip-based Suffolk Wireless, as well as a $100,000 signing bonus in 2012.
In other business, trustees announced several updates on improvements made to the conditions of the village pools, baseball field and tennis court.
Former assistant pool director Tomer Hananya was installed as the new director of Saddle Rock’s village pool.
The pool showers and dressing rooms have also been cleaned after residents expressed “mild” concerns involving their cleanliness, Levy said.
On July 16, the kiddie pool also received a new floor at the cost of $1,400, Levy said.
The pool’s concrete and paint had been chipping from the bottom of the pool, Levy said.
The fences surrounding the tennis courts and baseball fields are now finished being painted and the board is looking into alternatives to replacing the tennis courts in 2013 due to their unsatisfactory conditions, Levy said. Built 50 years ago, the board is looking into tennis courts that will not need as frequent repairs and are aesthetically pleasing to the residents, Levy said.
