LAKEWOOD RANCH — If the choice is between one big cell phone tower or many little antennas mounted on utility poles, it’s a no-brainer for Greg Gallagher.
Gallager, who is on a committee in River Club studying the cell tower issue, said he prefers the many little antennas that are part of a technology called “distributed antenna systems.”
Apparently, supervisors from Summerfield and Riverwalk in Lakewood Ranch are also intrigued enough by this technology to see what companies that offer it have to offer in the way of payback for leasing space on poles.
On Tuesday, District 1 supervisors decided to broaden their upcoming requests for bid proposals to use a chunk of its land along a nature trail near Trophy Lake. They want to include not just companies that offer cell towers but also distributed antenna systems and any other systems that might be out there.
“Our upcoming request for proposals will now be broadly worded to allow consideration of other technologies besides the tower,” said community manager Bob Fernandez after a District 1 workshop at Town Hall. “The board has told us they don’t want to preclude any technology from their request.”
Recently, District 1 voted unanimously to request proposals only from cell phone tower companies.
The board’s decision to expand was applauded by Gallagher, who attended Tuesday’s District 1 meeting.
“The reason I like the smaller antennas is that their range is about a half-mile, as compared to four miles for the tower,” Gallagher said, explaining that the antennas aren’t showering the community with as much power from radio frequency.
Also, the antennas send their signals underground on fiber-optic to a receiving station, Gallagher said.
Another plus, Gallagher said, is that the antennas are less invasive, appearing as canisters on street lights and poles.
But, on the negative side, there are a lot more antennas. They have to be spaced about every two miles to work, Gallagher said.
Summerfield Bluff’s Steven Cecil, one of four residents who attended the meeting to talk about cell and other issues, also said he would support the antennas.
“I think it solves our aesthetic issues,” he said.
Earlier, Cecil remarked: “I personally don’t think a 150-foot tower next to a nature trail is acceptable,”
District 1 supervisor June Stroup said she thought the request for bids should be expanded to include the alternative technology and any others. “I think we should look into it,” Stroup said.
District 1 supervisor Gary Berns cautioned Fernandez that the request for proposal can in no way imply that the district is seeking the best cell phone reception from the varying technologies.
Berns pointed out that that could make the district liable if someone doesn’t get phone service in an emergency.
Instead, Berns and other District 1 supervisors want the proposal to specify that it’s just space that is being provided and that the decision will be based mostly on financial return.
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