Officials Exploring Cell Tower Options At Southampton Village Police Headquarters

In an effort to improve cellphone coverage for residents and emergency responders, Southampton Village officials are looking to have a new cell tower installed at Village Police headquarters on Windmill Lane—though the exact height of the structure is still being decided.

Last week, Hemphill LLC, a cell tower leasing company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, conducted a visual and height test at police headquarters using a crane. Company representatives situated the crane, which had monitoring equipment on it, at three different heights—120, 160 and 180 feet, respectively—and then conducted tests to determine the reach of each level.

The results of those tests will be shared during the Village Board’s next work session on Tuesday, January 23, starting at 5 p.m., at Village Hall.

As part of the proposed deal, the village would lease space at police headquarters to Hemphill which, in turn, would finance the installation of the tower and then look to sell space to various cellphone carriers like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, according to Southampton Village Administrator Steve Funsch. The company and village would then split those revenues, he added.

Current cellphone coverage is spotty, according to Southampton Village Mayor Michael Irving, posing issues for emergency responders and the general public. Specifically, he noted that there is limited service near the beach, while other sections of the village have similar terrible service.

Mr. Irving said the proposed cell tower would be of the single pole variety, meaning it would not have other pieces of equipment attached to it.

The mayor also noted that the board has been trying to improve cellphone coverage in the village for three years; the problem, he explained, is that they did not know the best location to install the required tower. Last week’s testing, however, should help determine if police headquarters is the best spot for one.

“It was high—pretty awesome,” Mr. Irving said, referring to last week’s visual and height tests.

“Of course, we want the lowest height possible to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish,” Mr. Funsch added. “Aesthetics is a big issue.”