Highlights From the Last Two Years - See Barton Mountain Photo Below: February 2, 2006 Hearing Verizon Denies Misleading the Public And Corrects Longstanding Inaccurate Assumption Of Townspeople And Planning Commission That The Proposed Barton Mountain Cell Tower Location Would Provide Cell Service To The Town's Businesses And Population Base - February 2, 2006 Verizon Introduces Propagation Studies on Alternative Sites Suggested By Independent Engineer Set At 84 Feet, An Unusually Low Height For Highway Propagation - Coverage Thus Compromised "No Cell Service" - Speech Given By John Klar For The Barton Mountain Alliance - Read the Speech and Other Letters From The Public: see pages 3 and 4. New Date For Barton Cell Tower Hearing Thursday, February 2, 2006 Begins At 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM Resumes 6:00 PM Act 250 has scheduled a hearing for 3:00 PM at the Barton Memorial Building. The hearing will run from 3:00 to 5:00 PM and resume again at 6:00 PM for those who work during the day. A site visit is scheduled to commence at 10:00 AM from the Barton Memorial Building for viewing a 4 foot wide helium balloon from various locations that will be installed at the tower site. What the Verizon's $845,000 tower, road, powerlines, outbuildings, and future towers would look like on this remote location must be imagined. The Coventry and Wheelock Verizon towers along I-91 cost only $233,000 each. January 1, 2006 Barton Village Trustees Will Vote Against Proposed Cell Tower Site Because No Service Will Be Provided To Barton Village Citizens Or Businesses November 3, 2005 NVDA Tacitly Approves Ridgeline Development in Northeast Kingdom Citizens Question State and Local Ridgeline Plans In Disbelief See: What's New Page Engineer’s Report Shows Large "No-Service" Coverage Areas Roger L. Boyell, a Moorestown, New Jersey, forensic analyst, and expert in electronics and communication systems performed an independent analysis of engineering coverage using Verizon’s data submitted for the project. See Engineer's Report on this site. See also www.boyell.com for Mr. Boyell's sixteen-page Curriculum Vitae. October 27, 2005 Barton Mountain Cell Tower Hearing Cancelled Again Final Act 250 Hearing Date To Be Announced Here NVDA & some local officials advocate ridgeline development in most all areas of the Northeast Kingdom. Your presence at the final Act 250 hearing on the Barton Mountain cell tower site will be important in emphasizing to Act 250 that Barton Mountain's ridgelines should not be industialized, and alternative sites will provide better cell service to area businesses. We will join you there. Barton Mountain Alliance The Barton Mountain Alliance is a grassroots organization formed to protect the ridgelines of Barton Mountain from further tower development. We support a moritorium on any further industrial development on the ridgelines of the Barton Mountain range. The group is comprised of citizens from Barton, Vermont, Barton's eight neighboring towns, local hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, individuals and groups throughout the state who object to indiscriminate ridgeline industrialization. Vermont's ridgelines are under siege. If we are not careful, Barton Mountain's highly visible ridgelines and unique beauty will be gone. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and our neighbors to consider alternative sites not only to preserve the beauty of this area on which tourism and thousands of jobs are based, but to preserve the area for future generations of Vermonters and tourists. Why choose Barton Mountain if the population centers will not get cell service? Developers are Verizon Wireless, Native-Vest Properties of Derby, Vermont, and New York state investors, Mr. and Mrs. Yates. Powerful, non-local interests. Mr. Boyell explained that “Barton Mountain is simply a convenient high point and has been chosen irrespective of population density. It is a waste of engineering resources and radio equipment, which should be delivering coverage to people.” Cell Tower Zoning Board Decision Appealed To Environmental Court March 2005, 30 Barton citizens appealed decision of Barton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment for: Zoning Board approval granted against wishes of neighbors, & petition signed by more than 250 area citizens Opposition to this site is significant and growing. A letter campaign to reject this site continues to Act 250. Objections center on site's intrusiveness, the fact that population centers, businesses, & main routes will not get cell service, and the likelihood of the approval of additional towers. Cell Tower Zoning Board Decision Appealed To Environmental Court Zoning Board approval granted against wishes of neighbors, & petition signed by more than 250 area citizens Opposition to this site is significant and growing. A letter campaign to reject this site continues to Act 250. Objections center on site's intrusiveness, the fact that population centers, businesses, & main routes will not get cell service, and the likelihood of the approval of additional towers. Verizon Worsens Tower Design From Fake Tree To Fake Fire Tower From Ugly To Uglier New Plexiglas & steel latticework tower is far more industrial & far less natural than fake tree. Once a tower is in place, multiple dishes can be added without public approval. Two Alternative Sites Found Opponents to the Barton Mountain Site Want Cell Service Two alternative sites have been located, landowners include the State of Vermont Both sites are expected to work as well or better than the Barton Mountain site. Cost for Barton Mountain Site: $ 644,000 Co-location Is Changing The Character Of Barton Mountain A 75 foot FM Radio Tower application on file at the Barton tower office awaits approval at the FCC 1977 Barton Zoning approved an Adelphia Cable TV equipment shelter Adelphia site, basis for approval of Unicel site, granted without knowledge of adjoining landowners Unicel site became the basis for approval of Verizon site Unicel & Verizon sites will likely provide the approval for FM tower Each industrial facility permitted for Barton Mountain has been predicated on a pre-existing industrial use, setting up secondary land use development and approval of further towers Large groups of citizens in Baron and elsewhere do not want this pattern to continue on Barton Mountain. Overworked local officials do their best to perform town duties. Prior to the privately commissioned engineering report, it is likely that no one locally was aware that the population centers, businesses, and main routes would be without cell service.
March 2005, 30 Barton citizens appealed decision of Barton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment for:
75 Foot Radio Tower & 81 Foot Cell Tower Place Barton Mountain's Ridge Line Under Siege
