“My boss didn’t believe me when I told him, ‘I’m going to a place where there isn’t any cell phone service’.”
Sadly, this is an actual remark that I heard this past summer and it illustrates an issue that must be addressed in Huletts. It impacts everyone and it’s not only a health and safety issue but it’s also an economic one.
The Adirondack Park Agency has the power to approve new cell phone towers and has been criticized for moving slowly on this throughout the Park.
There are a number of innovative new cell phone tower companies, such as this one, who place numerous carriers’ receivers on one pole and who have become expert in hiding these towers in the surrounding forest. They can actually be disguised as a tree or be hidden in the forest’s canopy. Even something as simple as adding a new receiver to an existing emergency pole at a current firehouse, has to go through the APA’s approval process.
Imagine having a drowning or boating accident and reaching for your cell phone only to have no service? Imagine losing a renter or friend who can’t get that important phone call? Isn’t it a shame, that if you break down on certain areas of the mountain, you can’t get any cell phone service at all? In this day and age, it’s a complete travesty that cell phone service is unavailable in large parts of the Adirondacks. We lead the world in technology yet the Adirondack’s are a technological backwater because the Adirondack Park Agency’s can’t approve a cell phone tower quickly.
No longer should the APA be able to hide behind the empty argument that these facilities damage lines of sight. The most innovative cell phone tower companies have already overcome this with truly great designs. Now is the time for the Adirondack’s to catch up with the rest of society.
Hopefully, someday soon, we’ll be to answer the question; “Can you hear me now?” from Huletts.