Hearing at 3 PM Tuesday for Proposed Tower on Lydall Street

The Connecticut Siting Council will hold a public hearing at 3 and 7 p.m. Jan. 20 on an application to build a tower at 701 Lydall St. in Manchester.

A balloon will be flown over the site so people can see how high the tower would be.

Here’s the announcement, from the town government website:

Pursuant to provisions of Connecticut General Statutes § 16-50m and Section 16-50j-21 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, notice is hereby given that the Connecticut Siting Council (Council) will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, beginning at 3 p.m., and continued at 7 p.m., at the Lincoln Center Hearing Room, 494 Main St., Manchester, Connecticut [directions here], and thereafter as necessary.

The hearing will be on an application from American Tower Corporation and New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a telecommunications facility located at 701 Lydall Street, Manchester, Connecticut.

The purpose of the hearing is to hear evidence on the applicant’s contentions that the public need for the facility outweighs any adverse environmental effects that would result from the construction, maintenance, and operation of a tower, ground equipment, and access road.

The 3 p.m. hearing session will provide the applicant, parties, and intervenors an opportunity to cross-examine positions. The 7 p.m. hearing session will be reserved for the public to make brief statements into the record. Cross-examination of parties and intervenors will resume, if necessary, after all statements have been heard.

The Council will conduct a public field review of the proposed site on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, beginning at 2 p.m. The applicant will fly a balloon during the field review to simulate the height of the proposed facility, weather permitting.

Applicable law for this proceeding includes the Public Utility Environmental Standards Act, General Statutes§ 16-50g, et seq., and Sections 16-50j-1, et seq., of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

The Council directs that all testimony and exhibits be pre-filed with the Council and all parties and intervenors by Jan. 13, 2015. In accordance with the State Solid Waste Management Plan, the Council requests that all filings be submitted on recyclable paper. Please avoid using heavy stock paper, colored paper, and metal or plastic binders and separators.

Individuals are encouraged to participate through their elected officials, and other party/intervenor groupings.

Any person seeking to be named or admitted as a party or intervenor to the proceeding may file a written request to be so designated at the office of the Connecticut Siting Council, 10 Franklin Square, New Britain, Connecticut 06051, on or before January 13, 2015.

Parties and intervenors will be allowed to submit briefs and proposed findings of fact within 30 days after the close of the hearing.

Any person who is not a party or intervenor to this proceeding may file a written statement with the Council up to 30 days after the close of the hearing. Such statements will become part of the record.

No written statement or any other information will be accepted from any person not a party or intervenor to the proceeding after 30 days following the close of the hearing, except as otherwise prescribed by law or the Council.

A verbatim transcript of the hearing session(s) will be made and deposited with the Town Clerk’s Office of the Manchester, Bolton and Vernon Town Halls for the convenience of the public.

Requests for information in alternative formats or for sign-language interpreter services must be submitted in writing by January 13, 2015.

The applicant is represented by the following:

Applicant Its Representative

Homeland Towers, LLC & New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC

Lucia Chiocchio, Esq.

Christopher B. Fisher, Esq.

Cuddy & Feder LLP

445 Hamilton Avenue, 14th Floor

White Plains, NY 10601

A copy of the application is available for review at the Council’s office during office hours at 10 Franklin Square, New Britain, Connecticut, (860) 827-2935 or on the Council website at http://www.ct.gov/csc under the link “Pending Proceedings.” The Council has assigned this application Docket No. 453.

Photo (from Patch archives): A cell tower elsewhere (which is not necessarily what the top of the proposed cell tower would look like)