Cellphone service in Sag Harbor Village should get a bit better this summer with the installation of a new pole atop the Municipal Building on Main Street. The village board has voted to waive a thorough review of the installation in order to expedite it.
A so-called “whip antenna,” owned by AT&T, will be installed behind the building’s cupola. The antenna will be temporary, board members said.
“It’s a major improvement for this area,” an AT&T representative, Dan Gustaferri of Airosmith Development, told the board on Tuesday night. He estimated the pole could handle an additional 50 to 100 simultaneous calls and an unlimited number of text messages.
AT&T plans to build a three-foot-square box for the equipment, which will also be mounted on the roof. Power will come from an existing source, a pole owned by Verizon Wireless. Final structural plans have yet to be submitted and will be reviewed and approved by engineers hired by the village and paid for by AT&T.
The pole is a seasonal installation. According to the resolution passed by the board this week, it can only legally remain for one year after its construction.
Both members of the public and the board have in the past criticized a proposal by AT&T to install an antenna on the neighboring Sag Harbor Police Department headquarters, citing security concerns. The resolution passed this week specifically prohibits any equipment from being installed there.
