CAPE MAY — A temporary 100-foot steel pole will be installed next to the water tower on Madison Avenue to allow cell phone system antennas to continue to operate while the tower is repaired and painted.
City Manager Bruce MacLeod appeared before the city’s Planning Board Tue. March 13. The board in a unanimous vote approved installation of a pole to support the antennas about 50-feet from the water tower.
MacLeod said three antennas were located on the water tower with one “firmly attached to the bowl portion of the tank.” When the tower repairs are completed, the antennas will be attached to the handrail of the water tower rather than the bowl, he said.
Marc DeBlasio, the planning board’s contracted engineer with Remington Vernick, said the city had obtained a grant/low interest loan from the United States Department of Agriculture, which would have allowed for the replacement of the water tower.
He said the city chose to rehabilitate the tank.
Project Engineer Ed Dennis, of Remington Vernick, said wireless carriers wanted to maintain their service in Cape May while the water tower in under repair. He said a fourth wireless carrier wants to locate an antenna at the water tower site.
Dennis said the pole would be installed within a month.
Work schedule for the tower rehab:
• Advertise for bids end of March
• Award bid by April
• Begin renovation of water tower on Sept. 10
• Last date for completion of project: May 13, 2013.
The antenna pole will not use guy wires or excavation to support the structure. Dennis said the pole uses ballast at its base. He compared the design to that of a floor lamp with a heavy bottom that will keep the lamp from tipping over.
“It’s basically four steel legs in the shape of a cross,” said Dennis, noting the ballast was constructed on concrete.
He said the 100-foot pole would be shorter than the adjacent 130-foot tall water tower. The wireless carriers will install a security fence of the pole since it will be outside of the perimeter fence for the water tower, said Dennis.
The wireless carriers are paying for all the expense of the pole, he said.
MacLeod said the city would continue to receive a monthly rent from the wireless carriers. He said similar poles have been used in other beach towns rehabilitating their water towers.
Dennis said the pole was designed to handle winds up to 120 miles per hour.
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