Wireless proposal targets park tower
Tewksbury officials are hoping that a different approach to cellphone service in the south of town will mean the end for a giant cellular tower in Muster Park that overshadows a noted artist's sculpture.
In an unusual blending of technology and art, Planning Board officials believe they have a solution for ridding South Tewksbury of the
"The goal is to get the tower out," said Nancy Reed, chairwoman of the Planning Board.
The art is Mico Kaufman's whimsical bronze tribute to the town's firefighters, sculpted in a rhapsodic depiction of an Italian folksong he remembered from his youth, "Funiculi, Funicula." Kaufman gave the 10-foot "Muster" sculpture to the town in 1992 and it was sited on a wedge of municipal land on Main Street, next to the South Fire Station.
The technology is a distributed antenna system, a cutting-edge approach to cellular communications that doesn't require mountain-high cell towers. Instead of a 140-foot rod shooting to the sky, the new technology would house a base station inside a building and allow a series of antennae to be mounted on utility poles.
Tewksbury is among the first towns in this region to consider incorporating a provision for a distributed antenna system in its bylaws, and officials are making efforts to turn a controversy into a groundbreaking venture.
But a spokesman for Sprint-Nextel, which owns the tower in the park, said there is no guarantee that a distributed antenna system would provide the sort of cellular service that the company's customers need in South Tewksbury.
"At this point we're planning on honoring our existing commitment to providing much-needed wireless service to the community," said Mark Elliott, a regional communications manager for the company.
A draft of a new bylaw will be presented at public forums on Feb. 26 and March 5, said Reed, and a proposal seeking its approval will be presented March 13 at a Special Town Meeting.
The bylaw would prioritize the means for transmitting wireless communications, with the new technology, known as DAS, as the first choice. The second is for the antennae to be installed on municipal buildings. Antennae located on church properties would be the next preference, and placement along highways and high-tension corridors the last.
The bylaw also proposes that any cell tower be no higher than 100 feet unless a carrier can demonstrate a need. Under no circumstances would a tower exceed 135 feet.
Municipalities are required by Federal Communications Commission regulations to facilitate the installation of antennae by telecommunications carriers such as
Sprint erected a concealed tower inside an oversized flagpole at Muster Park in late 2005, prompting a group of Tewksbury residents to roar into a selectmen's meeting last February to demand its removal.
In the early 1990s, Kaufman and his supporters had restored the park from a bramble mess to provide a venue for the sculpture. Nearly 15 years later, they were voicing outrage over the positioning of the tower, which was erected directly behind the work of art.
Elliott said the company worked within the town's guidelines to provide proper coverage.
Kaufman's supporters initiated a petition in March for a revised wireless bylaw.
Cell towers are a double-edged sword for government officials because they prompt neighborhood complaints but meet residents' demand for consistent cellular coverage.
Carriers pay rent to the community when the towers are on municipal property.
The Sprint tower also provided an antenna platform for the firefighters' communications system, which was spotty in the south section of town.
The most unique feature of the Planning Board's seven-page wireless bylaw draft is its embrace of the DAS cellular technology, which has existed for years but has not yet been widely used.
The technology is used inside tunnels and buildings, but it is novel for outdoor use. Not everyone believes it is the solution Tewksbury is seeking.
"DAS technology has its limitations and it's a horrendously expensive solution," said Connie Durcsak, executive director of the DAS Forum for PCIA-the Wireless Infrastructure in Alexandria, Va. "Even the DAS builder will look at it as a last resort."
The technology is more effective in dense regions, said David Maxson, a consultant from Medfield hired by the town to assist with wireless solutions for South Tewksbury. The antennae are typically placed every one-eighth to one-quarter mile.
The town's vegetation and density are right for DAS, Maxson said.
"A distributed antenna system could be the main source of wireless service in most, if not all, of Tewksbury," he said.
But Elliott said he couldn't be sure that DAS would provide adequate coverage.
"In order to determine that, we would have to do a survey to determine what sites would be available to accommodate DAS equipment," he said.
The system's base station is connected through fiber optic cables to cubed boxes on utility poles.
A small number of communities in the Boston area use DAS technology to solve coverage gaps.
DAS is in use in Andover, filling gaps in coverage along Routes 28 and 125, said Alex Gamota, general manager of shared wireless networks for National Grid Wireless.
Andover's zoning bylaws were not changed to favor the technology, Gamota said. The installation simply required approval by the town's Board of Appeals.
"In Andover, it's a targeted solution and it has worked well," said Gamota.
"But a distributed antenna system doesn't work all the time. . . . It has its place, but it's just another arrow in the quiver."
Joyce Pellino Crane can be reached at crane@globe.com. 