Radio tower site in Chesco causes controversy

Bill Minahan recalls when his portable emergency radio failed while he was at a house fire a few years ago. The deputy chief of the volunteer Lionville Fire Company had to run to his car and use the mounted radio to tell county dispatchers about a woman police had rescued.

First responders know there are certain places in the more than 750 square miles of Chester County where their portable radios probably will not work.

So the county is working to upgrade its radio network to improve communications among its more than 5,000 first responders. In the coming weeks, construction of a new tower is set to start. The tower on Fellowship Road in Upper Uwchlan Township, near the scene of the house fire, is to be the last to go up.

While residents support the purpose, some still oppose the site for the three-legged lattice tower that is to extend 321 feet. They fear the tower will lower home values and create safety risks. They say officials left them out of the process and did not work hard enough to find another site. Nearly 1,100 residents signed a petition against the site.

"All we're really saying here is, they did not do due diligence," said Raymond Erfle, 75, a resident who helped collect signatures.

Many counties are going digital to strengthen their emergency service radio networks, said John Corcoran, a deputy director in the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety. Montgomery and Bucks Counties are among them. Delaware County officials say their radio service is adequate.

In Chester County, nearly four of 10 portable radio calls among first responders do not go through, officials said. So the county has been working for years to expand the coverage of the radio network. Installed in the early 1990s, the current system is based on obsolete analog technology, county officials said.

By April 2016, the updated system will cover 97 percent of the county, officials said. They said 100 percent coverage was unrealistic.

The county is spending $42 million for a digital system that will include 25 radio towers, including four new ones in West Bradford Township, South Coventry Township, South Coatesville at the Public Safety Training Campus, and Upper Uwchlan.

The county is to pay Upper Uwchlan $2,000 per month to lease about an acre for the new radio tower.

That township is the only place the county faced such vocal concerns about a tower, said Robert Kagel, director of the Chester County Department of Emergency Services.

Officials say they need the tower. Without it, first responders would lose about 15 square miles of portable radio coverage on the street and about 10 square miles of coverage in buildings, county officials said.

Officials said the county considered other sites but found existing towers in the area were not tall enough, were not built to bear an extension, or were in areas where other issues with zoning and property owners arose.

The county has spent the last few years choosing a new radio system, assessing sites, and getting zoning approval from municipalities. But opponents of the site say other locations nearby but away from homes could work if the county continued to research and negotiate.

Jon Lines, the owner of several acres of self-storage and commercial rental space in West Vincent Township, said he would be willing to negotiate with the county to put a radio tower on his land, which is not in a residential area.

Residents say the tower to be built among several housing developments would lower home prices, which would lower tax revenue for the town and schools. They cite a professional survey of appraisers in which 90 out of 110 said the presence of a cell tower in a field near a house would lower the house's value.

Officials counter that the new tower will be next to a wastewater treatment plant on a tract that already has a 300-foot tower owned by a pipeline company.

Residents want construction canceled. But all the new towers for the new radio network are expected to be finished by July or August, county officials said.

A recent active-shooter drill at Pickering Valley Elementary School showed why the tower is vital, said Cary Vargo, the township manager of Upper Uwchlan. First responders' radios did not work inside the school.

"I think the positives that the update of 911 communications will bring to the health, safety, and welfare of the community," he said, "far outweigh any negative impact."

610-313-8207@MichaelleBond