WESTERLO — The dispute over the installation of a cell tower carried over from last week’s planning board meeting, when Dorothy Verch came under fire at Tuesday’s town board meeting for her role as planning board chairwoman in an upcoming decision on a cell tower being erected in South Westerlo.

Resident Lorraine Pecylak went before the town board to say that Verch should recuse herself because she had a conflict of interest in the tower: Verch had said at an October meeting that she herself would like better cell service, said Pecylak.

Verch told The Enterprise after the meeting that there were no grounds for a conflict of interest, as she would not benefit financially from the tower’s construction.

She also said a decision is scheduled to be made at the next planning board meeting after a State Environmental Quality Review is complete.

The planning board had held a public hearing on the tower a week before, with Pecylak raising concerns about health effects from radiofrequency emissions and the effect on the viewshed at a nearby preserve.

The American Cancer Society states that there is little evidence supporting claims that RF emissions cause cancer, but does state that the possibility of a connection between the two is still being researched.

Pecylak described the hearing as “a joke” and criticized Verch going over an article in the Greenville Pioneer and correcting it. She also asked for the town board to weigh in.

“I don’t know if the town board has permission to ask the chairperson to recuse herself,” said Councilman William Bichteman.

Bichteman, who was in the gallery at the planning board meeting, added that he thought the corrections to The Pioneer’s article were fair, although he wondered if representatives of Verizon who were present at the hearing should have done it. He also said that he thought Pecylak had been given a fair hearing.

Pecylak also stated that there was not proper notification of a vision test, which had been delayed by two days due to weather followed by a machine malfunction.

Verch responded that every planning board member had been notified by her; one member had not checked his email, but still had been properly notified, she said.

Pecylak said she would consider bringing an Article 78 against the town should the tower be approved. The proceeding, named after Article 78 New York Civil Practice Laws and Rules, allows citizens to have court review of a government action or decision — monetary compensation is sometimes awarded. The applicable questions in such a proceeding are: if a lawful duty was not performed, whether the proceeding is not legal, whether a determination was made in violation of a law or affected by an error of law, or whether there is evidence against the decision.

Bichteman told Pecylak she could send a letter to the town, which would be directed to the town attorney.

New grant for broadband

The town of Westerlo’s Broadband Research Committee, a group seeking to provide internet access throughout the town, announced at the meeting that Mid-Hudson Cable had obtained a grant to install cables in areas of Westerlo. The New New York Broadband Program provides the cable company with a matching grant, said Eric Markson, a committee member.

The state’s Broadband Program Office estimates about 2.5 million housing units either have limited access to or no internet, and have offered grants for companies or municipalities to provide internet access to communities.

The committee would have the town attorney look over the grant, said Markson, but cautioned that the funds would expire in a matter of months.

The committee also learned that upwards of hundreds of Westerlo homes had been listed under other towns when receiving services from Mid-Hudson Cable, because some Westerlo homes have Zip codes corresponding to places such as Greenville or Berne. The franchise fee included in the cable bill was then directed to these towns rather than Westerlo. Because of this, Mid-Hudson Cable is paying the town, said Verch, who also chairs the Broadband Research Committee. It is not yet known how much is owed to the town.

Other business

Additionally, the board:

— Heard from representatives of Kenneth’s Army, a not-for-profit created in honor of kindergartner Kenneth White, who was murdered in 2014. The group went over efforts by the group including setting up a $1,000 scholarship for a Berne-Knox-Westerlo student to study social services and sponsoring a student from Kenneth’s class. The group encouraged all to attend “Kenneth’s Ride,” a fundraiser in Thacher Park on June 3;

— Heard from Barbara Russell, who is planning to move to Otter Road and said that the post office refuses to deliver mail to the two homes on the road. Russell would be the third resident, she said. Both Westerlo Fire Chief Kevin Flensted and town highway Superintendent Keith Wright said they are able to maneuver their vehicles on that road;

— Heard from the Westerlo Volunteer Fire Company that the beginning of the year had seen four chimney fires, a number of car accidents and brush fires, and one wheelbarrow fire. Bichteman asked for notification when the fire department used the town’s fire hydrants, because the sudden change in water pressure had been setting off the town’s water treatment facility’s alarms; and

— Changed the date of the July 4 meeting to July 6 due to the holiday.