SOUTHWICK—Interest from wireless carriers for an area of town has prompted town officials to request proposals for a possible cellular facility.
According to Southwick’s Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart, the requests for proposal (RFP) are for land in the southeast portion of the town, along the Southwick-Agawam border. The decision to seek the bids was originally determined during a previous town meeting where Stinehart said that the select board was authorized to enter a lease with a wireless carrier.
“We had an interest by some carriers to look at a certain geographical area in town for a placement of a cell tower because of the need for increased cellular service where it’s not optimal,” Stinehart said.
“It would benefit the customers, residential customers, especially people working out of their homes, and it would benefit the businesses in the area,” he added.
Currently, the town has three cellular towers, Stinehart said. One is located on municipal property at the transfer station on Industrial Road, another one off Congamond Road and the third is off Sam West Road.
According to Stinehart, he is unaware of any risks associated with a potential cellular tower at this time, but proposals will be reviewed by several local boards and commissions to determine if there are any. The potential money the town receives and anticipated time of construction would also be determined after.
“We’ll be evaluating the different responses and how it would work,” Stinehart said.
In addition, any cellular facility that is constructed would have to permit “co-locating” from other providers according to zoning bylaw, and it would also have to accommodate public safety needs of the town.
The RFPs are due to the town by Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. No requests for questions though, will be allowed past 4 p.m. on Sept. 1.
