Incredible Short-Sightedness

With all the howling and gnashing of teeth over cell towers at the past few Middletown Township Board of Supervisor meetings – particularly on the March 1 day-after-a-full-moon meeting – protestors are missing the point. Their irrational behavior is exemplified by their anger over a simple question put to them by Supervisor Robert McMonagle: “Do you own a cell phone?”

According to U.S. Mobile Markets: Analysis & Forecasts, the latest report from consumer technology think-tank, The Diffusion Group, by the end of this year, mobile phone subscribers will climb to 75% of the US population or approximately 236 million users. There is a growing consensus that cell phones are no longer a luxury but a necessity.

Because of the sky-rocketing demand, cellular service companies are scrambling to erect the towers needed to keep up with the usage. Mr. McMonagle saw an opportunity to bring in new revenue to the Township last year when he suggested the Board look into locating new cell towers on Township-owned property. Tower One was subsequently tapped to locate potential sites and negotiate lease agreements with carriers.

According to Nicholas Pullin, a partner in Tower One, conservatively, if there are just two tenants on each of the two cell towers currently under a lease agreement with the Township – which is what is currently on both the Veterans' Highway and Langhorne-Yardley Road structures – the total aggregate value of those leases would be $7.5 million over a 29-year period.

Also, these two towers could accommodate up to six carriers, so the potential for income for the Township is significant – income that will lessen what is needed to be collected through property taxes.

Opponents fail to recognize the fact that these towers are strategically sited to meet the demands of service. If the Township didn’t lease the property it owns, the companies would find an alternative private site nearby. Ultimately, these protestors would still have a cell tower in their neighborhood with the revenue going to a private individual or corporation.

These people who show up at each meeting to shout, cheer and jeer are incredibly short-sighted. One suspects that if they were around in the 1870s, they would have protested the erection of the first telephone pole.

Speaking of cheers and jeers, Board Chairman Tom Gallagher has a gavel in front of him at each meeting and should learn how and when to use it. While Mr. Gallagher likes to be the hero of the cell tower opposition, he has a responsibility to run these meetings in a professional manner – they are not and should not be pep rallies for his re-election campaign.

Perhaps some people will show up at the next meeting to thank Mr. McMonagle for seeking out ways to raise revenue in an effort to hold the line on property taxes. Now wouldn’t that be refreshing.