Cell Tower Coming to Shippensburg
November 16, 2013
Press Releases
Cell Tower Coming to Shippensburg
published on November 16, 2013
Debbie Chestnut, The Sentinel
SHIPPENSBURG — The Shippensburg Borough Council on Nov. 7 voted 6-0 to approve the conditional use application of Cellco Partnership to build a Verizon Wireless tower at 225 Gettle Ave.
Attorney James Strong, of McNees Wallace & Nurick in Harrisburg, addressed the council on behalf of Verizon and introduced several experts to explain the project.
The cell tower will be 80-feet high and include antennas and an equipment shed, surrounded by a chain-link fence. It will improve cell phone service in the borough.
Another tower near Shippensburg University also serves the borough, but it is operating at near capacity because of high data use by university students. Additional towers are needed as technology advances and cellphone use increases.
The experts told the council that a suitable building could not be found for a rooftop tower. The council also unanimously approved Verizon’s final reverse subdivision, which joins two parcels of land at the tower site, and land development plans.
In other business, Shippensburg Area Emergency Medical Services operations director Shawn Hartsock discussed plans for a local Advanced Life Support (paramedic) unit. A local ALS unit would improve medical response time, provide more efficient care and cut costs.
He told the council that when someone calls 911, Shippensburg EMS dispatches an ambulance with an EMT. If ALS is needed, a paramedic is sent from West Shore, and patients are billed separately for the two services.
An ALS unit in Shippensburg would provide faster response time to area residents and allow Shippensburg EMS to bill for both ambulance and paramedic services. Combined billing, he said, would save borough residents about $131,000 per year.
The council, by votes of 6-0 also approved a resolution designating the community center as a senior activity center and appointed Bill Lape to the borough planning commission.
Email Debbie Chestnut at dchestnut@cumberlink.com
