RENSSELAERVILLE — Judging by the applause, about half the crowd at last Thursday’s hearing opposed the plan for a 180-foot tower on top of Edwards Hill because it would mar the Catskill vistas while the other half favored the sheriff’s proposal because it would bring radio reception for emergency calls to parts of Rensselaerville — including Medusa and Potter Hollow — that now lack it.

“It’s like someone stealing your land,” said Joyce Schuld, who handed out flyers mapping the views that would be affected. “People paint, look at the sunset...Tourists come here.”

“If it saves one person’s life, I’ll do away with my view,” said town board member Marion Cook.

The two-hour hearing was followed by an hour of board discussion.

Ultimately, the seven-member planning board unanimously agreed to keep the hearing open, to require a long-form environmental review of the proposal, and to have the applicant perform a balloon test so residents can get an idea of how the tower would affect the views. The proposed site is on property owned by Dan Gangi.

About 50 people filled the town hall meeting room; at the direction of Supervisor Valerie Lounsbury, extra folding chairs were brought in from the courtroom, but the audience still stood along the edge of the room or spilled out into the hallway.

Lounsbury told The Enterprise this week, “I feel that the tower is essential for the health and safety of people in the town of Rensselaerville.”

She went on, “Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I feel the sheriff’s department has worked hard to find the best location.”

Inspector Ralph Mariani, the sheriff’s 911 coordinator for Albany County, told the crowd that this was one of three areas in the county in need of a tower. “Every little piece is crucial,” he said. “We’re trying to do with the most minimal impact...We have no other alternative to deliver your fire and EMS.”

Steven Elsbree, with Pyramid Network Services, said the tower would sit on a 50- by 60-foot stone base in a wooded area; it would be surrounded by a 6-foot high chain-link fence topped with a foot of barbed wire.

The tower would be built of galvanized steel, with both vertical and horizontal members, said Elsbree, asserting the structure would be “80 percent air.” When the tower is first installed, he said, the steel will look “very bright,” but, he went on, “Six months later, it will look just like the sky.”

Because it would stand under 200 feet, no lights would be required on top of the tower, according to Richard Rainsforth with Pittsfield Communications. He said the tower is needed for “point-to-point microwave communication” and it “must ‘see’ one other tower and hopefully two for interconnection.”

The total cost of the countywide system will be close to $23 million said Marinari, noting federal funds from Homeland Security are paying for much of the project. He also said that “well over 100 agencies” across the county would be using the system.

The tower is being built in such a way that private companies, such as for cellphones, can co-locate service but, as yet, there are no tenants lined up, according to Rich Amedure, chairman of the Rensselaerville Planning Board.

“Ugly is forever”

“We are going to keep some semblance of decorum,” Amedure told the crowd at the start of the hearing, stating that each speaker would be limited to three minutes. In the event of disruption, he said, “We’ll get some of Ralph’s friends to help you leave.”

Jeannette Rice, of Rensselaerville, spoke first, telling the board that a 2007 survey showed 70 percent of respondents supported a tower with the caveat that it preserve beautiful vistas.

“Ugly is forever,” she said.

Construction, she said, must be in keeping with the town’s comprehensive land-use plan. Rice said, “Our vistas are jewels, spiritually nurturing....” and urged a committee study the matter.

Lynn Love, a science and health writer who has lived in Rensselaerville since 2007, asked if the full height were necessary. She also suggested a committee investigate making it more visually discreet. Love noted, too, that residents pay vista taxes and said of the tower, “It will mar the vistas...It will change the character of natural beauty.”

Rainsforth said taller would be better but the plan was to keep the tower under 200 feet, the Federal Aviation Administration cut-off for requiring lights on top of the tower, which will have a 15-foot antenna on top as well as microwave dishes attached to its sides.

A woman who lives next to the Pond Hill tower later suggested lights on top would be a good safety measure; she called it “common sense.”

“When the phone lines go down, this will not,” said Elsbree, which is useful in emergencies.

“We have cell phones,” said Schuld, who opposes the tower.

“Try it,” said Dennis Wood, holding his cell phone out to her. He spoke later on behalf of emergency workers.

Dianna Hinchcliff addressed the board next, reading from State Environmental Quality Review law that defines structures over 100 feet in an area without zoning regulations on height as Type 1 actions, requiring a full assessment review rather than the short form.

“The short form is deficient and incomplete,” said Hinchcliff.

She concluded to applause from the crowd that she recommended the planning board rescind approval of the short form and require the long form instead, triggering another hearing.

“Achilles heel”

John Mormile of Potter Hollow said, “We’re in desperate need of emergency communication ...The lives of individuals are more important than views.”

Jeffry Pine, a former Rensselaearville assessor whose wife serves on the planning board, said a 10-year lease would generate $100,000 for the property owner. “This property has a history of defaulting on real-estate taxes,” he said.

Pine also said, “This is a great site, but it’s a lazy site.”

“To question these three men,” said Wood of Mariani, Ellsbree, and Rainsforth, “seems to me really ridiculous and really insulting.” He said the applicants “have the facts.”

Referring to damage done by Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011, Wood said, “Our Achilles heel wasn’t the water. It was lack of communication.”

He said “vista lovers” shot down a tower proposal six years ago and asserted that 90 percent of those objecting are from the hamlet of Rensselaerville.

“You’re not telling the truth,” interjected Schuld from her front-row seat in the gallery.

Wood went on to say that the tower disguised as a tree in Rensselaerville was the ugliest thing he’d seen, calling it a “Frankenstein of a tree.”

“No one had a problem with that. Give me a break, people,” said Wood, concluding, “Don’t put us in a dangerous situation because of what your eye might see for one-one-hundredth of a second.”

Clashing opinions

“Is this the only location that will accomplish the goals?” asked Charles Burgess from the back of the hall.

“This is the best so far we can do,” responded Inspector Mariani, noting there is a willing landowner and an existing roadway, making it less costly.

“With technology, we could see there are hundreds of options or thousands of options...There are a lot of hills,” said Burgess who works for the Open Space Institute. He called Edwards Hill “a viewshed of national significance; it’s one of the key treasures of the East Coast.”

Michael Richmond who lives on Fox Creek Road, said that, years ago, his daughter had to be med-flighted. “When we’re talking about a person’s life, seconds matter,” he said.

“You found something easy,” asserted Joyce Schuld. “I spoke to heartbroken people...you’re crushing people...You’re taking 20 out of 24 viewsheds Rensselaerville has. At a minimum, send a balloon up there.”

She concluded, “It should not be jammed down the throats of people...We also have rights. We have invested in the land.”

“We can’t afford to put this off,” said Gerald Wood who served on the 2005 tower committee. “We have winter coming on us...I don’t see what the problem is...Why put it off?...Let’s get it up. We have put it off for too many years; let’s go with it,” he said to applause.

“We’re doing this for the town of Rensselaerville,” said Gangi, who owns the property where the tower would be built. “It’s on our farm.”

“One of the reasons I moved up here and pay view taxes,” said Alberto Caputo, an artist who runs the Way Out Gallery, “is I can see the Catskills free and clear.” He moved to Rensselaerville 33 years ago, he said, and sees 23 miles from his house. “We pay a view tax,” he said. “It’s very expensive.”

Late in the meeting, after speakers were on second and third rounds of comments, Dennis Wood apologized to the applicants on behalf of emergency services. “It’s an embarrassment,” he said of the objections. His comments were greeted with applause.

“There’s no need to apologize for expressing our opinion as citizens of this country,” responded Hinchcliff.

“Can you put the American flag on top?” asked planning board member Walter Cook.

“No, then you’d have to light it,” answered Elsbree with a smile.

Lynn Love told the board, “This is not a discussion of whether we have a tower or not, it’s a discussion of the leadership.” To the sound of applause, she urged the board to “mediate the concerns of the town.”

“Richard, you did a good job,” said Jeffry Pine, thanking the chairman.

“You have a gun in the room, it helps,” rejoined Amedure.

Board deliberates

“Meetings are public,” said planning board member Dorothea Cotter as much of the crowd got up to leave before the board began its deliberations. “We never have company,” she said, noting the board meets the first and third Thursday of every month.

“I don’t want to be forced into a timeline,” Amedure told the board, stating it would have just 62 days to decide if it didn’t continue the hearing.

The board agreed by unanimous vote. A tower for emergency use requires a special-use permit, Amedure said.

“Do we want to require a long form?” he asked the board of environmental review. “That’s where the balloon test comes in.”

“We should ask for a long form to make sure everyone has an opportunity,” said Barry Kuhar. “A balloon test...would not tie up that much more time.”

Kuhar made the motion for the long form to be required of the applicant; his motion passed by unanimous vote, too.

“The next meeting will be really crowded,” Amedure surmised.

Kuhar urged conducting the balloon test on a weekend when out-of-town residents could also see it. “Half the people come up on weekends,” he said. “They have multi-million-dollar houses they’re paying taxes on.”

“Some of the castles don’t fit the rural character,” said Cotter.

The board briefly considered doing two balloon tests — one mid-week and one on the weekend, but finally settled on a weekend. Elsbree said a daylong test and the analysis that goes with it would cost $4,500.

A “six-foot car-dealer blimp” — the same as the six-foot diameter of one of the microwave dishes on the proposed tower — will be floated at 180 feet on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If it is rainy or foggy that day, the test will be performed instead a week later, on Saturday, Aug. 29.

The applicants will be back before the planning board on Sept. 3 to go over the long environmental review form that they will submit.

The board members then mulled comments made by the public to see if they had missed any of the concerns.

“They asked for a committee,” said member Travis Smigel, adding, “Without the technology background, I don’t think it warrants that.”

“If people want a committee, knock yourself out and bring us the information,” said Cotter.

She said later, “It makes people feel better they’ve done something.”

“Don’t announce it; they won’t even see it,” quipped Walter Cook of the balloon test.

“I’m just trying to beat the frost if this goes through,” said Mariani.