At a special meeting held May 1, the Ancram Town Board postponed any decision on hiring a consultant to advise its Planning Board on a proposed cell tower along Route 22, a project drawing opposition from some members of the public.
The legal team representing the applicant — Homeland Towers, acting on behalf of Verizon — had provided the Planning Board with names of consultants who specialize in cell service transmission. Some on the Town Board, as well as members of the public, questioned whether those consultants would be independent and not favor the utility. The Planning Board had also researched three additional consultants, none of whom responded to interview requests.
The Planning Board is seeking a consultant due to the technical complexity of cell tower infrastructure, including factors such as height, placement, and signal coverage. Verizon initially recommended hiring one. Some residents have questioned the proposed tower’s height; according to the applicant, a shorter tower would not meet service requirements. An independent consultant would help assess these claims.
Susan Sullivan, a member of Ancram’s Conservation Advisory Council, compared hiring a firm recommended by the utility to “asking the fox to guard the hen house.”
“It would be fairer to proceed with an independent consultant,” she said.
Planning Board Chair Joe Rocco said he was willing to continue looking for alternative services. The Town Board requested that he do so at least until May 15, when they will reconsider the matter at their regularly scheduled meeting.
Immediately following the Town Board meeting, the Planning Board reopened its public hearing on a proposed 10-acre solar project at 3333 Route 82, situated on farmland owned by Jim Miller.
Miller, Ancram’s highway superintendent and a former partner in Millerhurst Farm, is seeking to lease the land to RIC Energy, a solar developer participating in New York State’s Community Distributed Generation program.
As previously reported by the Herald, Miller purchased the 100-acre property in 2016 after leaving the family farm. He has described the lease — estimated to generate about $25,000 annually over a 25-year term — as a way to retain family ownership while securing supplemental income.
At the May 1 hearing, Ciara Hopkins, assistant project manager for RIC Energy, presented site renderings and described the proposal’s compliance with Ancram’s solar code. She shared before-and-after photo simulations of the property, taken from public access points along Route 82.
This included an independent noise analysis, which projected sound at less than 36 decibels. “That’s between a whisper and the hum of your refrigerator,” said Hopkins. The town code allows for up to 55 decibels.
Because not all Planning Board members had seen the site in person, Rob Quieroco, RIC’s development director, offered to schedule another site visit. While public visits are not required on private land, Miller declined to make the visit public, citing new spring plantings in fields currently leased to Lo-Nan Dairy for growing corn and soy.
Board members also discussed visual screening. Quieroco said RIC would work with a nearby property owner on Woods Court to recommend vegetation buffers.
Hopkins and Quieroco addressed environmental concerns raised by attendees. “The panels do not contain any toxic material; where older panels may have used lead and cadmium, the plastic now used is the same as that used in mouthguards,” Hopkins said. “They are lubricated with vegetable oil.”
Emily Miller, an adjoining property owner and Jim Miller’s sister-in-law, reiterated her opposition. She and her husband operate Millerhurst Farm, a multi-generational family operation that placed its land under a permanent conservation easement in 2018. Miller cited concerns about farmland preservation and said RIC has not yet decommissioned any of its projects, raising questions about long-term land recovery. She submitted a petition opposing the project, which she said had been signed by 60 residents.
Members of the public asked whether local households would see savings on electricity. Quieroco explained: “All of the power generated by RIC’s Ancram LLC — and it should be the equivalent to that used by 200 or so typical homes — will flow to one of Central Hudson’s substations. Central Hudson will offer its subscribers the option to sign up for a discount on their monthly bills.” He noted the precise discount rate was not yet known.
“With more energy in the system, there will definitely be a savings,” said Quieroco. “But it is impossible for me to predict how future costs might rise. This isn’t about solar or even just ‘clean’ energy. The need for more energy of any kind is desperate.”
The Planning Board will continue the public hearing on the solar proposal at its next meeting on June 5.