By John J. Hopkins Times

Residents in the Bellevue neighborhood and Depew are unhappy with a plan to improve New York State's emergency communications that includes a 250-foot lattice-constructed tower on state-owned land off Indian Road.

The tower, which would be built behind a New York State Department of Transportation facility at 111 Indian Road, is one of between 500- 1,500 towers that would be built across New York for a "Statewide Wireless Network," referred to as SWN.

State officials say that concerns regarding the reliability of New York's communications infrastructure date back to 1996. In 2000, the State Office for Technology established an office for the statewide network.

The project, state officials say, would provide a digital communi cations system that would cover almost 97 percent of New York State. The system would allow agencies at various levels to instantly communicate.

However, local residents are raising questions about the tower's effect on health, while at least one county legislator has called the project's legitimacy into question.

Among those who are against the tower are the Cheektowaga Citizens Coalition, the Town Board, Erie County Legislator Tim Kennedy and the Depew-Cheektowaga Taxpayers Association.

John Stonefield, president of the citizens coalition, questions the rationale in placing a tower in the Bellevue neighborhood.

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http://www.cheektowagatimes.com/news/2007/0809/Front_Page/002.html