Peabody Municipal Light, Verizon Agree To Cell Tower Solution

PEABODY, MA — Two weeks after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled the "limitation has been reached" on Verizon's need to find an alternate solution to building a 60-foot cell tower in South Peabody, the wireless company and Peabody Municipal Light Plant reached an agreement to avoid building the tower that some residents and city officials opposed for six years.

Peabody Municipal Light Plant announced that it reached a pact with Verizon to install wireless communication devices onto utility poles in Peabody. The utility company said the resolution — negotiated among Peabody Municipal Light, Verizon, Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt and the Peabody Municipal Lighting Commission — eliminates the need for the tower ahead of the city's appeal of the state Supreme Court decision.

"This was a long process that relied on everyone's cooperation and persistence," Peabody Municipal Light Charles J. Orphanos said in a statement. "In the end, we feel this is a good agreement for the neighborhood in South Peabody and all our rate payers."

On Sept. 24, the state Supreme Court ruled Verizon had done its diligence to exhaust all alternative options in its long process of finding ways to eliminate its coverage gaps in the area. That ruling affirmed Massachusetts Land Court's ruling last year that Peabody had to issue permits for the tower on the property owned by Michael's Limousine Co. at 161 Lynn Street.

City leaders, including Bettencourt, had backed neighbors in their fight against the tower.

That ruling stated: "Concluding that Verizon met its high burden of showing, as a matter of law, that the proposed facility is the only feasible option for filling the gaps in the coverage network, and thus the denial of Verizon's special permit application constituted an effective prohibition on personal wireless services in violation of the Federal Telecommunications Act, we affirm (the Land Court ruling)."

The Peabody City Council denied applications going back to 2014 as negotiations to use the Peabody Municipal Light facilities repeatedly stalled.

The utility company said the new agreement will allow for the installation of wireless communication facilities atop utility poles to mitigate Verizon's coverage gap.

Peabody Municipal Light said the agreement, in part, addresses the 2018 Declarative Order by the FCC which opened the door for communication companies nationwide to install wireless communication facilities on utility poles within the public rights of way.

Orphanos said the fees that Peabody Municipal Light Plant will collect from Verizon will offset the costs associated with the work the utility company will do to install the new equipment.

"I'd like to thank everyone at PMLP who has been involved in this process, the Commissioners of PMLP, the City of Peabody, and Verizon, who worked diligently to reach a mutually beneficial solution," Orphanos said.

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