Selectmen send Nextel matter to the ZBA
By Caitlyn Kelleher

Selectmen gave the go ahead for Nextel Communications to proceed to the permitting process for a tower on Meeting House Hill.

Selectmen agreed that the contract for the cell phone company to lease land is nearly ready to be signed. This preliminary agreement means the cell phone company can apply for a permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals to build the tower.

"You won't sign the contract until there is a permit," Town Administrator Kevin Paicos told the selectmen on July 18.

Town officials have been in negotiations with the telecommunication company for nearly two years.

The lease indicates the company will pay the town $2,500 a month for the first year and then that will increase by 5 percent every year there after for the remaining four years of the lease. The town will also receive 15 percent of the rent other companies pay Nextel to house their receivers on the tower and all of the money for the space the other companies use on the ground.

Board Chairman Jonathan Dennehy said he was concerned that despite the new tower that coverage in the town will not improve. He said he wanted some sort of guarantee.

"We're a small town and its' been pretty apparent to me that these big corporations don't care about coverage in our town," he said.

The town's bylaw requires that companies present details about coverage during the public hearings to get the permit.

One of the sticking points in the negotiations was where the public safety radio antennas would be located. Paicos said those antennas would be located at the top of the proposed tower according to the contract.

The ZBA will regulate how high the tower will be as part of the permitting process.

Police Chief Loring Barrett Jr. said he is glad Nextel will be located in town because it will provide the department a second means of secure communications with Nextel walkie-talkies.

"If our radio system goes down, we don't have a second line of communication (now)," he said.

Barrett added that the North Worcester County Drug Task Force, which Ashburnham is a member of, uses these walkie-talkies to communicate.

In other business:

 Selectmen refused to waive the $80 connection fee for the residents of the Page Beach area, as the new water main is installed in the area.

 Selectman Mark Carlisle asked Paicos to develop a plan for a capital committee in town. Carlisle said he would like to get a committee responsible for developing and maintaining a capital improvement plan established by the end of the summer.

-- Caitlyn Kelleher can be reached at (978) 827-3386, ext. 15, or e-mail: caitlynkelleher@aol.com