SHAWANGUNK – Kim Hunt is facing a new property owner's nightmare. "The person, who is going to put the cell tower on his property?" she says. "I can see his house from my back deck." That would be Henry Schoppman's house, of 23 Twin Ponds Lane, which lies just west of the Hoagerburgh Road where the Hunts' house lies.

The Hunts bought their house last fall, but they say, they were never informed by either the sellers or the realtors involved, that a cell tower proposal was before the Town of Shawangunk Planning Board.

"I definitely feel let down," says Kim Hunt. "We were never told anything by either realtor, or the homeowners, who had to know about it, because there were meetings and discussions with neighbors."

Indeed there were, and the CellCo proposal has been before the Planning Board since 2007 and has been discussed many times.

Regarding legal issues on this matter, the Hunts say they have had some discussion of legal remedies in the event that the tower does actually gets built.

Noting that, under pressure from the Town Planning Board, the tower design has changed from the traditional sort, with visible antennas sticking out on the sides, to a "Flagless Flagpole" variety, and further that the projected flagpole has come down in height to 120 feet in the current plan, Kim Hunt says, "I can't say I mind it as much now, but it's the possible health issues that concern us as much as anything else."

Hunt refers to the slowly accumulating evidence regarding the biological effects of non-ionizing radiation. There has long been a debate over this issue and whether long term exposure to non-ionizing radiation, such as that put out by electric power lines and cell towers can cause cancer. Cell towers put out signals from each antenna of about 10 watts. This seems insignificant, and has long been dismissed by industry and industry-related scientists. However, long term, continuous exposure, even to weak fields, like the 100 milliwatts generated by modern cell phones, continues to spur concern among some scientists.

"We're a young family, planning for kids, and we're very concerned about possible health consequences. So, right now we're waiting with bated breath to see what happens and whether this tower will go up, or not."

Beyond health concerns, Kim Hunt, a lifelong resident of the area, says, that protecting the views of the Shawangunk Ridge should concern everyone.

"I'm also pretty sure that this won't be the last tower that gets put up. But once they have the precedent, then, the door will be open."

Her neighbor, Donna Richardson, also opposes the Cell Tower. She says, "We have a responsibilty to preserve this viewshed. We live in a spectacularly beautiful place, but of course, to the cell tower company, that is irrelevant. Well, it isn't to this town. One of the rules in the Town's Zoning Law is to 'protect the historic rural character, rural features and irreplaceable scenic qualities of the Town with special attention to open spaces, mountain ridges, recreation areas, scenic roads, view sheds and historic sites, through careful design, siting, landscaping, screening and innovative camouflaging techniques.' Well, there is no way to camouflage this tower, except to relocate it. At 120 feet it will stick up above everything else here."

Also opposing the tower, is Joan McAdam.

"I live on Hoagerburgh Road," she says, "and I think that putting up something like this in a scenic area is inappropriate, to say the least. We need to preserve the viewshed no matter what. And, you know that once one of these towers goes up, there will be more."

Another issue for McAdam comes from the Galeville site for the National Grasslands Bird Refuge, which is just below the Hoagerburgh.

"Millions of migratory birds die every year because they strike these towers. Now, they're going to put one up, right beside a breeding ground that's designed to attract migratory birds!"

McAdam fears that the future may bring something like the ugly collection of towers that sits on the Shawangunk Ridge by Lake Maratanza.

"Everyone should go and take a good look at that. Is that what we want?"

Finally, Kim Hunt says, "We never saw the original 'balloon tests', because we weren't here. And I can't get to the Town Hall in the day to look at the pictures, without taking a day off work. So we would really like to see another balloon test done, so we can get some idea of what this could be like, if it is built."

The Town of Shawangunk Planning Board will be meeting next on Tuesday, September 7, at 7 pm at the new Town Hall, and the Public Hearing on the CellCo Application regarding the cell tower on the Hoagerburgh, will continue at that time.