Town of Olive
County of Ulster
State of New York
August 7, 2000

Minutes of the monthly audit meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Olive held Monday, August 7, 2000, 7:30 pm at the Town Meeting Hall in Shokan, NY.

The Town Board audited the bills for the month of July and set the agenda for the August 8th meeting.

Supervisor Leifeld stated that Laberge Group has requested petitions from Town residents for support of the rehabilitation project at Davis Park. He stated they requested the Town Board solicit businesses for funds that would be paid only if the grant were received. General consensus of the Town Board was to not proceed with soliciting funds from businesses.

The Town Board reviewed the parcel purchased by the City of New York from Heller/Frankel in West Shokan with the general consensus being that this parcel be requested open for recreation, as it is an important and needed access to South Hollow.

Supervisor Leifeld addressed the approximately ten residents from Beaverkill Road by giving a background on implementing the wireless telecommunications law. He noted that one of the aspects of the new law is that Town property is a preferred site and it is up to the Town to investigate the possibility of wireless facility placement on parcels owned by the Town. He stated that potential revenues and better control over wireless facility placement were considered in making that decision. He stated a wireless company was contacted and they are reviewing the Transfer Station property on Beaverkill Road and the Shokan Park property. He stated that any applicant would go through the same process whether the proposed site is on Town property or not. He stated that the initial proposal received from this company was for a 300 feet tower, which is out of the question. He stated there is nothing signed and nothing concrete and noted the Transfer Station was just a site that was mentioned. He stated the Town can't stop wireless facilities completely but they do have some control over them. Supervisor Leifeld stated this issue is strictly a proposal at this point.

Linda Barash stated that since 1999 the legal system has become much more lenient to municipalities in this issue, particularly in property values and visual impacts of which depreciation values are 10- 25%. She stated it would be immoral to not bring up the fact of health concerns noting there has been a lot of research from Europe. She noted some of the health problems addressed in this research are joint pain, malignant tumor growth, Alzheimer's, and heart and liver dysfunction. She noted that Italian research has proven male leukemia from radiation that can be detrimental up to 2 ½ miles. She stated they are asking the Town Board to write the FCC and federal and state representatives to help protect us from these health hazards. She stated they want to work together so that no residential area has a cell tower. She stated that our current wireless law is written specifically for implementing towers.

Council Member La Monda stated we know that health hazards may exist; however, the federal government has dictated that we can't address these issues.

In response to questions, Council Member Chase stated that all zones throughout town are residential as the Town has mixed usage zones.

Lou Napolitano stated he doesn't want a cell tower in his yard and doesn't want it in anyone's yard and feels there are enough remote areas in Olive to put the facility somewhere else. Supervisor Leifeld stated this would be specific to NY State and NY City lands and if they don't want them, they won't be there.

Noel Barash asked if there is a way to amend our Zoning Ordinance to be more restrictive and to address visual impacts. He stated the zoning and wireless laws are not specific enough and suggested zoning be reevaluated with a more strict criteria. Linda Barash stated the wireless law should be incorporated into our Zoning. She noted that more and more people are suing regarding cell towers and if the Town chooses to put a facility on town property then we are liable. She stated her surprise that the Town of Olive, which is so proactive, didn't extend the moratorium. Council Member Burkhardt stated the Town couldn't extend the moratorium since it had reached its limit and noted the Town was being proactive by implementing the regulations.

Lengthy discussion occurred on aspects of wireless facilities, the telecommunications act, the local telecommunications law, the consultant who drafted the law, and placement of facilities on town owned property.

Council Member La Monda stated that to his surprise the telecommunications group contacted for a proposal on town property stated they wanted to be in close proximity to Route 28 and were not interested in the mountain tops. He stated there are two potential Town sites and the company may not even be interested at all. He stated he is not disappointed in what the Board did and noted that none of the Board members are experts, so they relied on experts. He noted the appeal process is with the Town Board, not the ZBA or Planning Board, therefore, the local law is stricter.

Noel Barash suggested the Town have another expert review our consultant since we should build the tightest criteria possible. Council Member Chase stated the local law has a section stating that another expert can be hired to make sure our consultant has done his job correctly.

In response to Mrs. Butler, Supervisor Leifeld noted the people present can assist the Town Board by attending public hearings on any future applications and to continue their research and inform the Town Board of any experts they might find.

Linda Barash noted that even though the Town Board cannot control health risks, they should be armed with knowledge. She noted, for example, that if there is iron or water in your soil it could throw off the radiation that is emitted.

In response to questions on how the Town came to hire Richard Comi of Telecom Associates, Council Member Chase stated that Ulster County sponsored a program for Town officials to listen to various consultants in the telecommunications field and Mr. Comi was one of those consultants.

Mr. Mauer asked if the balloon testing is done at the Transfer Station and the visual is definitely an impact, would the facility be denied? Council Member La Monda stated the company contacted for a proposal was told by Supervisor Leifeld that the facility would not be over 140 feet and there would be not light.

All business pertinent having been discussed the Town Board adjourned at 9:35 pm on a Leifeld/La Monda motion.

Sylvia Rozzelle, Town Clerk