Ms. Linda W. Saparoff

          Re:     Telecommunication Facility on Barton Mountain

Dear Ms. Saparoff:

You asked me to perform an independent engineering review of the application by Verizon Wireless for a "Telecommunication Facility Off of Chamberlin Road" with particular regard for wireless telephone (cellular and PCS) coverage which would or would not be enabled by that facility.

Materials Reviewed

• Act 250 Application submitted by Vermont RSA Limited Partnership dba Verizon Wireless and Native-Vest Properties LLC, with 14 exhibits, 2004 September.
• Town of Barton Municipal Development Plan, 2002 June.
• Town of Barton, Barton Village, and Orleans Village Joint Zoning Bylaw, 2004 September.
• Northern Cartographic Northeast Vermont Road Map, 1^st Edition, scale 1:75,000.
• US Geological Survey topographic maps, quadrangles Irasburg, Orleans, Westmore, Crystal Lake, Sutton, Stannard, and Lyndonville VT, scale 1:24,000.

Findings

The application includes an antenna tower whose top is 84 feet above ground level, supporting a triangular platform approximately 12 feet on a side, holding 12 panel antennas, each approximately one foot wide and four feet high.

This is a single-deck monopole tower of the type commonly installed to provide wireless telephone coverage over a range of several miles from the tower.  Tower height and structure provide the capacity for two additional decks in the future.

The proposed location is near the peak of Barton Mountain whose elevation is approximately 2,200 feet above sea level, and at a location which is three miles northeast of the closest point of Interstate 91.  This location will require improvement of a dirt road 1.1 mile up the mountain from Chamberlin Road.

Because of the frequencies employed by cellular and PCS equipment, in order to obtain communication coverage the antennas must be placed at a height on the tower well above the tree line.  The applicant proposes to disguise the tower through coloring and by attaching artificial tree branches.

The rationale presented for the site is to afford coverage on Interstate 91 and in particular to fill in a 24-mile gap extending north toward Coventry and south toward Lyndon.  Presumably the site would also afford wireless service for Route 5 and the nearby population centers of Barton and Orleans.

Discussion

The signal frequencies used for wireless telephone radio communication are subject to essentially line-of-sight rules.  That is, a transmitter and receiver can communicate only if there is no significant obstruction to radio waves traversing the transmitter-receiver path.  The most significant obstruction is the terrain itself.

Accordingly wireless carriers go to great lengths to model the radio wave propagation so as to determine just what paths can be afforded by virtue of the local topography.  They make coverage maps showing the user locations which can or cannot be afforded service from their existing and proposed antenna sites.

According to the coverage maps for the Barton Mountain site provided by the applicant, this proposed site would cover three segments of I-91 within a 10-mile length, from just above Orleans to the north, to Sheffield to the south.

However, it would not afford continuous coverage for motorists traversing I-91 in this area.  Without continuous coverage through this corridor, wireless telephone users would still experience areas of "no service".  The proposed site would therefore require additional sites to fill in the smaller gaps thereby created.  

One coverage gap would still occur on I-91 between Barton (exit 25) and Orleans (exit 26), even though the roadway is less than 4 miles from the site.   Route 5 between Barton and Orleans would not have wireless service.  This is because the routes of I-91 and Route 5 roughly follow the Barton River valley, and the intervening topography prevents the radio signals from getting through.

The other gap in continuous coverage would be on I-91 below Barton.  The scenic overlook or rest area, again about 4 miles from the proposed site, would not have wireless service.

Finally, although service from the Barton Mountain site would extend to higher elevations many miles away, it would not include the Barton town center itself.

Conclusions

The proposed wireless site near the mountain top requires significant road construction and may be considered a visible intrusion, particularly when the three decks above the tree line become populated with antennas.

Being at a high elevation this site would provide coverage to sparsely populated areas at high elevations out to several miles, but not to nearby population centers in the valley.

From an engineering standpoint this represents a waste of resources. 

The proposed site fails to afford continuous coverage of I-91 and thus does not fulfill its rationale, since additional or fill-in sites will still be required.

Recommendations

I believe a comparable length of I-91 could instead be covered by two antenna sites closer to the intended I-91 -- at lower elevations than, and thus more easily accessible than, the top of Barton Mountain.

For example, a similar three-deck antenna tower at or below the scenic overlook or rest area south of Barton would afford continuous coverage along several miles of I-91.  Such a site on the 1,600-foot rise just to the southeast would be accessible from Duck Pond Road, requiring construction of about 0.3 mile of roadway.

Then another site along I-91 or Route 5 between Barton and Orleans would cover a continuous length of several miles along both those roads.  Maps indicate the presence of a sewage treatment plant, a cemetery, and a landfill, any of which may be suitable locations.  The applicant is likely to identify a site for a wireless facility along this valley which affords coverage of well-traveled roads and population centers and does not require significant road construction.

Since other lower sites would still be needed to fill the coverage gaps remaining after the Barton Mountain site is commissioned, I recommend that such other sites be located first.

It is likely that two sites at much lower elevation that the top of Barton Mountain, one to the south and one to the north of Barton town center as described above, would provide continuous coverage along the same 10-mile length of I-91.

Then the Barton Mountain site may not be necessary to obtain the coverage desired by the applicant.

                                                                             Sincerely,

                                                                             Roger L. Boyell, PE

Encl:  Synopsis of Qualifications

          Addendum to CV