August 13, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Board approves wireless tower on McKee Drive by Frank J. McMahon A new wireless communications tower and related compound facilities will be con- structed on property located at 91 McKee Drive that also fronts on Island Road. The 11.4-acre property contains a mixed use building and a large parking lot. The new communications tower will be located on the southeast portion of the property about 798 feet from Island Road and 13 feet 3 inches from the south property line. The tower will provide wireless com- munications services by Sprint Spectrum LP and four other co-applicants. Those co- applicants are T-Mobile Northeast LLC of Parsippany, McKay Brothers LLC of Oak- land, California, Auburn Data Systems LLC of Chicago, and New York SMSA Limited Partnership (Verizon Wireless) of Branchburg. McKee Drive Associates LP of Mont- vale owns the property, which is located in the GI-80 general industry zone and bor- dered to the north, south, and east by the GI-80 zone and the B-40 highway business zone on the other side of Island Road to the west of the site. The property currently contains easements for utility services and for water and sewer mains, and contains wetlands and associated buffers. According to Mahwah Township Engi- neer Michael Kelly, the applicants propose to construct a 220 foot high lattice tower with an additional seven foot lightning rod and a lighting system at the top if required by the Federal Aviation Administration, plus an equipment compound measuring 100 feet by 50 feet and enclosed by an eight foot high fence. Sprint and T-Mobile plan to install nine panel antennas at the 220 and 205 foot levels. McKay plans to install five dish antennas at the 197 foot level, one dish antenna at the 195 foot level, and three dish antennas at the 193 foot level. Auburn Data plans to install two dish antennas at the 185 foot level, and Verizon plans to install 12 panel antennas at the 105 foot level. Kelly stated in his report to the town- ship’s board of adjustment that the con- struction of a communications tower is permitted as a conditional use in the GI- 80 zone. He stated there is an existing lat- tice communications tower at 82 McKee Drive (north of the subject property and about 30 yards from Island Road) that will be removed and decommissioned once the new tower is constructed. The approval includes several variances, including the one for the distance the tower will be from the south property line, one that requires communications towers to be set back at least 100 percent of the height of the tower from any adjoining lot line, and one for the compound being two feet from the property line. Plans for the facility indicate that it will be monitored by remote control, although specialized trained technicians from each applicant will visit the site every four to six weeks to conduct routine maintenance and, in an emergency, the local police and fire departments will be notified. The facility will require no water, will not produce any sewage, and is exempt from compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The township has several other mono- pole and wireless communications facili- ties. Recently, the New Jersey Department of Transportation constructed a second monopole between North Central Avenue and the ramp leading to Route 17 South next to the one the NJDOT installed in early 2014. In addition, an 80 foot high communications tower with an associated equipment compound was installed in early 2014 based on plans by Internet Services Telco LLC (Telco) on a 1.1 acre irregularly shaped vacant lot where North Central Avenue meets Route 17 South, about 100 yards north of the NJDOT monopole site. Township officials complained to the NJDOT at the time claiming the state agency should have notified the town- ship of plans to install a monopole in that area before the township’s planning board approved the other monopole for Telco. However, according to Anthony J Attana- sio, the assistant commissioner for gov- ernment and community relations for the NJDOT, since Cross River Fiber, Inc., the company using the NJDOT monopole, is a state Board of Public Utilities approved utility, and since all of its work is located on state-owned right of way, the applicable BPU and NJDOT regulations state that such work is exempt from local jurisdic- tion with respect to approvals and required permitting. Fire department turns 100 The Mahwah Fire Department will cele- brate its 100 th Anniversary of dedicated ser- vice to the community with a Block Party on Saturday, Aug. 23. The event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Mahwah Fire Com- pany 1 at 100 Miller Road in Mahwah. The department invites the community to join in the festivities, which will include food, music, and fire engines. In addition, the Mahwah Museum at 201 Franklin Turn- pike will be open for a free visit to its model railroad.