GRASSROOTS FOR GREENBURGH
P.O. Box 877, Elmsford, NY 10523
CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING TELEVISING THE MEETINGS OF THE ANTENNA REVIEW BOARD
June 20, 2000
BACKGROUND TO THIS CORRESPONDENCE: Editor’s Note
The Antenna Review Board (ARB) has tried to minimize the impact of federal laws that give telecommunications companies considerable legal muscle in deciding where they can place their antennas, including in residential communities. However, Supervisor Paul Feiner does not seem to appreciate the efforts of the ARB or its attempt to keep the public informed.
Unlike the ARB, the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals have full-time clerical staff to help process applications and notify affected neighbors, and their meetings are televised live on Greenburgh’s cable TV channel 71. To better inform the public about proposed cellular installations, the ARB wished to have its meetings televised. However, in a May 12, 2000 letter to Town Clerk Alfreda Williams and Cable TV Coordinator George Malone, Supervisor Feiner advised that he disapproves of televised ARB meetings.
In the Greenburgh Campaign Finance Commission’s May 23, 2000 meeting minutes, page 12, lines 617-620, Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, who chairs the ARB, said "the likely cause of the censorship is one of its members, Francis Sheehan, ran against the incumbents in the last election. It is clear from Supervisor Feiner’s letter that he recognizes that televised municipal meetings can have advantages to those appearing on them, other than just conducting town business."
The ARB tried to proceed with its first televised meeting because arrangements had already been made prior to receipt of Supervisor Feiner’s objection. However, the ARB’s attempt to proceed failed. The meeting was transmitted on cable, but without sound. The audience could not hear the ARB’s discussion, even though the program broadcast immediately before the ARB meeting experienced no sound problems. After the soundless ARB meeting, GfG understands the cable director was very upset and determined to find out what went wrong.
If GfG gleans any further information regarding this strange occurrence, we will post an update.
Established in 1996 to review applications from telecommunications companies needing sites in Greenburgh, the ARB has been diligent in carrying out its responsibilities to the community and the Town of Greenburgh. Many of the areas chosen by telecommunications companies are in the heart of residential communities. Unfortunately, Mr. Feiner, in denying the ARB's request, may well remember how the ARB stood firm with the community against the Town Board when Nextel, a telecommunications company, tried to place cellular antennas on a non-conforming radio tower owned by WFAS located in the heart of a residential community in the Secor Homes area. The Zoning Board agreed with the ARB and decided against Nextel’s application. However, in a lawsuit brought by Nextel, the Town failed to pursue its legal remedies and, instead, agreed to a settlement with Nextel. The settlement gave Nextel four sites in Greenburgh to place its antennas. The town’s settlement did not require complete applications to be filed and it did not even allow the ARB to exercise its powers to impose aesthetic conditions, such as color blending or landscaping, on the four installations. The ARB, as well as the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations and the Edgemont Community Council objected in writing to the settlement but the Town Board gave Nextel the four sites anyway. Live ARB meetings, with sound, could keep the public informed about all aspects of antenna applications from initial contact to final determination.
The foregoing lends much resonance to the May 23, 2000 recommendation of the Greenburgh Campaign Finance Commission to place the operation and financing of the Greenburgh cable TV under the control of an independent, non-partisan organization, thus removing the public access channel operation from political influence. The Commission’s recommendations appear on GfG’s CAMPAIGN FINANCE page.
