Lloyd Harbor Explores Options for More Cell Coverage

At their monthly meeting on Monday night, Lloyd Harbor's Board of Trustees discussed how to expand cell phone signals within the village. The topic was raised after phone carrier T-Mobile appeared before the village's planning board last month, with a proposal to construct a cell phone tower on village property.

According to John Ritter, the village's attorney, the planning board wanted an opinion from the Board of Trustees before it proceeds with anything, as the board has final say on the matter. Ritter said he believes the expected location of the cell phone tower will be Village Hall.

Mayor Leland Hairr said Village Hall would be a welcome spot, as there aren't many homes nearby. "It needs to be the greatest distance away from adjacent homes, so they don't have to worry about the noise from the generators," he said.

The board welcomed the idea, though members said they wanted to research the matter further.

"I've been approached by residents who said they would like to see better coverage," trustee Ralph Alfentino said. "There certainly is interest."

Trustee William Burdo suggested the board explore other options to amplify cell signals, as opposed to putting up a cell phone tower. Members acknowledged that sporadic cell phone coverage in the village is a problem, with certain areas having no access and reception fading in and out on roads.

Even the police station has no access to cell phone reception.

"You could go right outside the front door and you don't have any," said Lloyd Harbor Police Chief Charles Flynn.

Flynn said cell phones are beneficial to the police force, referring to a missing person incident in his police report. Lloyd Harbor police were able to locate a missing person last month via pinging his cell phone; the carrier happened to be T-Mobile and Flynn added T-Mobile always "works out well" with the police.

According to Flynn, police cars are being equipped with new technology that runs off cell phone towers, and he said the village needs better coverage so the police can access information from Suffolk County.

Other matters of concern included whether to leave the tower at the minimum height requirement, or making it bigger, so carriers other than T-Mobile could have access to it.

Aesthetic issues were discussed as well, though board members were against concealing the tower as a tree. "The ones that look like trees look ridiculous," said trustee Hilary Rolih. Flynn suggested disguising the tower as a flagpole if it was placed at Village Hall.

Mayor Hairr said he would like the board to hold a meeting with T-Mobile representatives to discuss matters further before they make its final decision.

The Board of Trustees' next meeting will be held Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. at Village Hall.