by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the Feb. 24 Sewanee Community Council meeting, Eric Hartman offered specifics on the modified proposal for locating a cell tower at the football field. In other business, the council approved on first reading an amendment to the constitution and agreed to a change in the meeting schedule.

Hartman, the vice president for risk management and institutional effectiveness, has served as liaison for the cell tower project. All cell tower sites satisfactory to cellular communications provider Verizon have met with community objections. At the January council meeting, Hartman presented a modification of the proposal to locate a cell tower at the football field. The modified proposal called for replacing one of the four football field lights with a monopole, and mounting the field lights on that pole. The infrastructure could be partly concealed beneath the bleachers. The proximity to the nearest home would decrease.

At the February Council meeting, Harman focused on answering questions raised in January about the size and logistics of the light pole cell tower option. The eight feet in diameter monopole would be located next to the bleachers and would be situated on a 15 feet by 15 feet pad enclosed in a black wire mesh fence. A structure beneath bleachers, likewise fenced, would house the infrastructure.

Compared to all the other proposals considered, the monopole next to the bleachers offered the best propagation, smallest footprint, and shortest tower, Hartman said.

The original football field proposal called for an 80 feet by 80 feet or an 80 feet by 60 feet pad. Because the installation next to the bleachers would be situated on a slight rise, the tower itself could be slightly shorter than the monopole originally proposed for the football field site. Hartman estimated the height at 175 feet. The football field site is the only site that would not require a lighted tower, because the location allowed for effective propagation with a tower under 200 feet in height.

Hartman also noted the modified proposal did not change much about foot traffic in the bleachers area and no tree cutting would be needed. William Shealy, University superintendent of landscape planning and operations, said the excavation needed would not disturb the tree roots, according to Sallie Green, superintendent of leases. Provost Nancy Berner pointed out the modified proposal would not require an access road.

Council representative Eric Keen asked if the nearby property owners had been consulted.

“We’ll talk with them one more time,” said Vice-Chancellor John McCardell.

Hartman stressed no contract had been signed, and the project would need to be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office. Last August’s meeting with the Historic Preservation Office to discuss mitigation at the football field site was canceled, Hartman said. “We decided we still had more work to do and alternatives to consider.”

Explaining the recommended constitution amendment, Provost Berner said the changes covered two areas. One amendment removed temporary language inserted to transition to new rules regarding elected council representation. The other amendment pertained to council representatives appointed to fill a vacancy and changed the term of service from “until the next election” to “the remainder of the term.” The second reading of the amendment will be at the April meeting.

In keeping with a suggestion by McCardell, the council will not meet in March and May, and will meet instead in April and June.