Proposed cell tower gets mixed signals at meeting

A proposed 150-foot unipole stealth cellular tower on Longboat Island Chapel’s property got mixed signals yesterday at a community meeting.

Longboat Key resident and Alpha-Omega Communications Inc. owner Jim Eatrides and his business partner, Kevin Barile, president of the Tampa-based Ridan Industries II, discussed their plans with approximately 50 residents.

Eatrides told residents that the height of the proposed structure was necessary because a cellular signal weakens if it has to travel through trees, walls and other objects. The south end of the island has buildings tall enough — more than 100 feet tall — to hold antennae that boost cellular signals. But the north end lacks the high-rise condominiums that could hold such a structure. The tower has been designed to look like a “flagless flagpole,” according to Eatrides, that will have a light gray color to blend in with the sky.

Resident Bob Dockery estimated that his phone drops 10 calls a day. Another woman who said that the software company she works for assigns her a cell phone estimated that her phone drops seven to eight calls in a three-hour period and spoke of the embarrassment she feels when she loses an important business call.

“I depend on this,” she said, holding up her phone. “It’s my office.”

Residents disagreed about whether they wanted a tower — and whether it was needed.

Former Longboat Key Commissioner Gene Jaleski listed multiple north-end locations where his cell phone gets four or five bars. Resident Terry Griffin said that he and many other residents don’t have trouble with cellular coverage but would still be impacted by the aesthetics of a tower.

“You’re not going to be able to disguise a 150-foot pole,” Griffin said. “I’ve never seen a flagpole that’s 150 feet.”

“There is no perfect solution,” Eatrides said. “What we’re trying to do is get as close to a perfect solution as we can.”

Eatrides and Barile discussed other technologies that have been proposed as alternatives to cell towers.
Eatrides said that Longboat Key doesn’t have enough people to make a digital antenna system (DAS) viable, noting such systems are also found in places like airports, subway systems and stadiums. He described repeaters as costly to buy and install and said that femtocells, which use broadband to connect to a service provider’s network, often result in dropped calls when the femtocell becomes confused by multiple networks in the area. He also said that improvements to radio technologies would enhance the capacity of personal-wireless improvement facilities without eliminating the need for them.

The Longboat Key Planning & Zoning Board will consider the proposal at its next meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Longboat Key Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road. The hearing is open to the public.

For more information, pick up an Oct. 20 copy of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].