Monday, December 31, 2007; Posted: 06:38 PM
 
TRUMBULL, Dec 31, 2007 (Connecticut Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- S | charts | news | PowerRating -- There might be something new hiding under Town Hall's "hat."

Officials are considering authorizing a deal with Sprint Nextel to place a cell phone antenna in Town Hall's cupola.

First Selectman Raymond G. Baldwin said the arrangement could bring the town about $25,000 in rental fees annually, but more importantly, shore up backup municipal communications.

"We want it because our secondary communications is Nextel," he said. And, at present, he said, "We have dead areas roughly from Town Hall to St. Theresa's and from Church Hill Road to Trumbull Center."

A public hearing is scheduled to consider the proposal when the council's Legislation & Administration Committee meets Thursday. That session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall, followed by a full council meeting at 8 p.m.

Unlike exposed cell towers, Public Works Director John DelVecchio said this type of enclosed antenna wouldn't have to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Baldwin said he hopes the plan won't generate the kind of opposition that brought out neighbors when a cell tower was proposed nearby off Main Street a couple of years ago.

The Town Council dismissed that plan amid the outcry.

DelVecchio said the town started negotiating over the Town Hall site after being approached by the cell phone company. In recent months, he said they tested the worthiness of the site by hoisting an antenna nearby and testing its signal.

Baldwin said Town Hall would hardly be the only building in town to house a cell tower. He said several churches have them in their steeples, and that other structures, including St. Joseph's Manor and Westfield Trumbull mall, have them atop their roofs. He also said he isn't worried about any potential problems with radiation.

"If I thought there was a problem, I wouldn't put it up there," he said. "I'm putting it right above my head."