By Joel Beck
A proposal to build a new cellular phone tower in Georgetown has some residents concerned about the long-term health effects it may have on the surrounding area.
The proposal, which was scheduled to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday night, after the Record's deadline, calls for a cell tower from Omnipoint Communications Inc. to be placed in the steeple of the First Congregational Church on Andover Street, leaving some residents worried about it being in a residential area rather than an industrial one.
"We're hoping that they'll reconsider," said Middle Street resident and church abutter Susan Miller. "In today's society, everybody wants cell phones, but I really don't think it's a good idea to have this in a residential neighborhood."
Miller said she had gathered signatures from other residents in opposition to the proposal and planned to attend Tuesday's meeting to present some of the information she gathered while doing research on cell phone towers. She pointed specifically to a study compiled by the International Association of Firefighters' (IAFF) Division of Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine which suggests that the radiation that emits from wireless telecommunications base stations may have some harmful effects.
"IAFF members are concerned about the effects of living directly under these antenna base stations for a considerable stationary period of time and on a daily basis," the study says. "There are established biological effects from exposure to low-level radio frequency/microwave radiation."
While Miller said that she hoped to persuade town officials not to move forward with the proposal, ZBA member Joe Young said he wanted to hear all sides of the argument before making a decision.
"I've heard that these are less obtrusive and you don't even know they're there," Young said of the proposal to build the tower in the church's steeple. "But it is quite a close residential area, right there next to Town Hall. If people have their concerns, I'm sure they'll be there."
Young said he believed there were other nearby towns, including Hamilton and Ipswich, that had built similar cell phone towers in residential areas. Georgetown currently has three other cell towers, but they are all located in industrial zoned areas in town.
Residents cellular tower
