Skip to main content

Cell Tower Rises at Camp Blue Bay in Springs

Thu, 07/06/2023 - 10:49
Emergency and personal wireless communications will be improved when equipment is installed and operating on the new 185-foot-tall tower at the Camp Blue Bay property in Springs.
David Lys

A new 185-foot tower to house emergency communications and personal wireless equipment, a component of East Hampton Town’s long effort to upgrade its emergency communications infrastructure, has been installed on the Camp Blue Bay property in Springs.

The tower’s installation was completed last week, Councilman David Lys told The Star. Emergency communications and four personal wireless carriers are expected to house equipment on the tower. Eddie Schnell, the town’s emergency communications director, said the goal is for the equipment to be installed and operational by next spring.

The installation at the 170-acre Camp Blue Bay, which is owned by the Girl Scouts of Nassau County, was a step forward in the process to upgrade both emergency and personal wireless communication service in the town. The planning board approved the tower in November.

The town board had initially settled on a 6.9-acre wooded area in Springs as the most suitable location for the 185-foot pole, but outcry from surrounding property owners led to a resumption of discussions with the Girl Scouts, which had been abandoned.

When personal wireless equipment has been installed, the new tower will increase coverage but will not eliminate coverage gaps in Springs, Eric Schantz, who was then the assistant planning director, said in October (he has since been appointed director of housing and community development).

More than three in four respondents to a wireless infrastructure poll conducted in August 2021 described network coverage where they live as poor or nonexistent. A little more than half of the 1,601 respondents live in Springs

Villages

Volunteers Take Up Invasives War at Morton

Most people go to the Elizabeth Morton Wildlife Refuge in Noyac, part of the National Wildlife Refuge system, to feed the friendly birds. On Saturday, however, 15 people showed up instead to rip invasive plants out of the ground.

Apr 24, 2025

Item of the Week: Wild Times at Jungle Pete’s

A highlight among Springs landmarks, here is a storied eatery and watering hole that served countless of the hamlet’s residents, including the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock.

Apr 24, 2025

The Sweet Smell of Nostalgia at Sagaponack General

Stepping into the new Sagaponack General Store, which reopened yesterday after being closed since 2020, is a sweet experience, and not just because there’s a soft-serve ice cream station on the left and what promises to be the biggest penny candy selection on the South Fork on your right, but because it’s like seeing an old friend who, after some struggle, made it big. Really, really big.

Apr 17, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.