The Lenox Housing Authority voted at its Wednesday, Oct. 2 meeting not to go forward with a proposal to put cellular antennas on the chimneys of the Curtis Building and cell equipment in the basement, according to Chairman Edward J. Roche Jr.
Roche declined to say why the LHA made this decision, but said the board reserves the right to revisit the issue in the future. Abutters and residents in the Curtis had met and circulated a petition against the project, that week and the week before.
AT&T Wireless originally proposed the installation to give coverage to downtown Lenox. The Curtis would link up with a proposed extension of the cell tower at the Lenox Fitness Center. The Zoning Board of Appeals asked, at the Sept. 10 hearing on the proposal, that the LHA request the special permit for the antennas at the Curtis. Robert McNinch explained that the the LHA planned to put the project out to bid, and AT&T might not win the bid. The LHA, as the owner of the building, should make the proposal.
Roche simply said the LHA did not wish to make the request for proposal (RFP) for this project. AT&T will withdraw this petition if the LHA does not go forward. Marty Nee, a spokesman for AT&T Wireless, said A&T would look at alternative sites in the Lenox downtown area. AT&T has not entered into any formal negotiations yet; it was too soon for him to say what sites might be considered.
AT&T will go forward with the proposal to extend the fitness center tower by 20 feet, from 120 to 140 feet. This tower will cover Route 7 & 20 north and south of the fitness center, but will not cover the downtown area well, Nee said. Antennas typically cover 1 to 3 miles, but the distance varies dramatically depending on the character of the landscape. AT&T came before the ZBA Oct. 8.
Sept. 25 Edward Acker, who lives next to the Curtis, held a meeting in the Town Hall to address the proposed cell antennas on the Curtis roof. He hoped to hold the meeting at the Curtis, but the Curtis is a private residence; public meetings are not allowed there.
Of the 25 people who came to this meeting, 12 were Curtis residents. Many Curtis residents did not know about AT&TÕs proposal, Acker said; it had been in the newspapers, but they had not been individually notified. He added that the LHA effectively provides the building for events like fire drills.
Bill Curry, a physicist from Chicago, came to the meeting to discuss microwave radiation Ñ the kind emitted by cell antennas. Curry is an expert on microradiation who travels and lectures on the effects of cell towers. Acker said he brought a meter and took the participants out to the Lenox Fitness Center tower, to monitor its activity. They took readings a the fitness club and at the Arcadian Shop across the street.
The tower was very active, Acker said. Curry told Acker he would not want to live nearby. Residents of the LHA were chiefly worried, not about radiationÕs possible long-term effect on the brain, but about its possible short term effect on health devices: hearing aids, electric wheelchairs, and pacemakers. Many residents of the LHA are elderly or disabled, and use these things. Microwave radiation demonstrably interferes with all of them, Acker said; cell phones are not allowed in hospitals.
Acker and several LHA residents began circulating a petition opposing the Curtis cell tower proposal. Acker said he asked to put up posters at the Curtis, and pass out flyers; this is not allowed either. As of the following Wednesday, the petition had nevertheless gathered 100 signatures. 40 were LHA residents Ñ out of approximately 60 apartments in the building.
Acker said he also had help from June MacFarland. The MacFarlands brought Sarah Clarke, a health activist, to the Sept. 10 ZBA hearing, to discuss the possible dangers of living or working near a source of cellular radiation. Clarke in turn helped Acker to get in touch with Curry. Acker added that a woman called him to say she had moved out of her house in Boston after three cell towers went up in the area; she began having headaches and memory problems.
Nee said if the LHA had chosen to go forward with its proposal, AT&T would have addressed any concerns the residents had about the radiation.
AT&T has never had any problems at any of its tower sites, he said. ÒWe have them on the roofs of most hospitals in the greater Boston area.Ó
Hospitals are high buildings, and they use their own radio frequencies to communicate over radio.
AT&T is licensed to offer coverage throughout the Berkshires, Nee said. They are expanding their coverage throughout the county.
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Drury Senior Writes Song About Overcoming Challenges
By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High senior and Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies student drummer Zach Hillard has composed a song, "Here I Am," as a personal anthem of overcoming challenges.
"If you want to do something, go do it. That's the whole point behind 'Here I Am,'" Hillard said. "Any obstacles and challenges you may face in your life, if you have something you want to do, go for it. There is not one person on earth who does not have a dream or something they want to overcome. Whether it is physical or mental, it does not matter, if you want to do it."
The song is personal and showcases Hillard's struggles with cerebral palsy and how those struggles have shaped who he has become.
The song opens with the lyrics:
Look — my name is Zach.
I was born early, eager to see the world
and drop some knowledge.
Doctors said that I would not talk, walk,
and be wheelchair bound.
But look at me:
Here I am.
I'm talking, walking, and can do anything
I wanna do; nothing can stop me.
Hillard said he never knew writing music would be so important to him and was surprised by how much he took to the BAAMS assignment that asked students to pen some lyrics and themes for an original song.
Hillard decided to write about his own life.
"I've got a pretty cool life story. So I went home, I thought about it, and in about one day, I had most of it written," he said. "...The end of verse one I wrote ‘look at me here I am.' I thought 'Here I am' that is sort of catchy."
Drury High senior and Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies student drummer Zach Hillard has composed a song, "Here I Am," as a personal anthem of overcoming challenges. click for more
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A state air quality director says Brayton Elementary School was a victim of an underreported "natural disaster" that hit the state in late summer. click for more
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