[August 21, 2010] Northvale OKs one cell tower as it fights another in court Tweet NORTHVALE, Aug 21, 2010 (The Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The borough has accepted a five-year bid from Wireless EDGE to build and operate a cell tower in Hogan Park. The bid award comes as the borough is in court with T-Mobile, which filed an application about two years ago to put a cell tower on private property at 35 Industrial Parkway. The Planning Board/Board of Adjustment denied that application, saying, among other things, that the proposed site plan would have a "negative visual impact" on the surrounding community, citing the significant public opposition to the project from neighbors and overuse of the proposed facility. T-Mobile sued in state Superior Court in Hackensack. Judge Menelaos Toskos reversed the board's decision April 12, prompting the planning-zoning board to file an appeal on May 21. That action is pending in the Appellate Division. Briefs are due on Sept. 26, according to a spokeswoman for the court. The contract with New Rochelle, N.Y.-based Wireless EDGE Westchester Group LLC was awarded this month, Mayor Peter Perretti said. The company submitted the highest of three bids. It calls for monthly payments totaling $30,012 in the first year, rising by 3 percent in each of the succeeding four years. Wireless EDGE also will pay the borough 25 percent of any rent it receives from companies leasing space on the single, tubular tower called a monopole. According to the bid, the monopole would be limited to 120 feet. Wireless, however, wants an option to extend it another 20 feet to hold a minimum of six commercial wireless carriers. The company agreed to sublease the top tower spot to T-Mobile at a rate of $2,501 per month -- which would cover Wireless EDGE's $30,012 annual payment to the borough. Wireless EDGE also will place the borough's antenna's system on the tower at no cost. The company said it will attempt to camouflage the pole. Wireless EDGE will be responsible for all design and engineering costs, according to the bid. T-Mobile submitted the minimum bid -- $25,000 -- while Verizon Wireless LLC submitted a bid of $27,001. Borough Attorney Thomas Randall said the lease has not yet been signed. Given the ongoing court case and the borough's award of the contract to Wireless EDGE, Perretti said it's possible that the borough could have two cell towers within 500 feet of each other. "One way or another, we are having a tower, whether it's on private property and we get nothing, or on borough property -- about 500 feet away -- and we get an income," he said. E-mail: [email protected] To see more of The Record or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.northjersey.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]