Acton taps NY company to build cell tower at landfill site

Efforts to improve Acton’s cell coverage moved ahead Monday when the town manager’s office awarded a bid to build a tower at the former Acton Landfill. 

Wireless Edge Towers beat two other bidders. The company now needs to finalize a lease with the town and get a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“Improving cell service in Acton is a key goal of the Select Board for Fiscal Year 2025, and the establishment of a new tower at this site aligns with the town’s efforts to enhance connectivity and address coverage gaps,” Deputy Town Manager Megan Zammuto said in a statement provided to The Acton Bridge.

Zammuto did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about how long the negotiation and permitting process might take.

The town issued its request for proposals in October, with plans to have a company lease part of the landfill property to build a tower. Monday’s announcement said Acton also received bids from American Tower and Verizon Wireless. 

Wireless Edge, based in Rhinebeck, New York, operates cell towers nationwide. 

Officials said Wireless Edge’s proposal “demonstrated superior technical expertise, a strong track record with similar projects, and a well-documented plan to accommodate at least five major wireless carriers.”

Imperfect solution

School Committee member Tracy Marano acknowledged the expected cell tower announcement at a February 4 meeting. She said she hoped the landfill project would boost service at Acton-Carlisle High School and nearby Alcott Elementary School. 

A landfill tower would only partially cover the CCHS grounds, according to a presentation in October 2023 from then-town chief information officer Jason Bulger. 

The tower also wouldn’t completely fill a coverage gap on Route 2 where signals from antennas at Emerson Hospital can’t reach. 

Bulger noted a history of cell coverage at the Acton Landfill, including an AT&T tower that came down in the early 2000s under pressure from Acton residents.

“People did not like this particular site at the time,” he said. 

Land lease change

Residents and town officials alike have long lamented Acton’s coverage gaps, with some decrying the situation as a safety issue. 

The possibility remains for the installation of antennas at The Umbrella Arts Center although an earlier request for proposals yielded no qualified bidders. The town has reviewed other possible tower sites. Staff are also seeking a bylaw amendment allowing longer leases of town land. 

The current land lease bylaw caps leases at 10 years. During the February 3 Select Board meeting, Zammuto proposed increasing the term limit to 30 years to attract infrastructure investment. The 30-year term, she said, “ensures that the lease duration is sufficient to justify the capital investment required” for projects like cell tower construction. 

The Select Board approved the bylaw amendment by a unanimous vote. The matter will now go before Town Meeting in June.