By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Last week, Ocean Pines Association officials updated the community on the potential initiative to strengthen the neighborhood’s reception with a cell phone tower.

During the public comments portion at the OPA Board of Directors Saturday, Oct. 26 meeting, residents Mark Goldwater and Karen Kaplan asked the community officials to clarify what the cell phone tower project will entail and where it currently stands. OPA leaders maintained that nothing is set in stone, including a possible site, and the initiative is still in the preliminary stages.

Still, OPA General Manager John Viola assured that community personnel have been in contact with the Worcester County Commissioners regarding the project.

“We have had meetings with the county,” he said. “They did say they would work with us in whatever way they could as we look into this.”

OPA Police Chief Tim Robinson said that he met with a representative from a potential contracting company on Friday, Oct. 25, with whom Ocean Pines is “considering working.” The contractor is putting together a draft proposal for the association to look over. The name of the maybe-partner was not disclosed.

If the project moves forward and a site is determined, Robinson said the selected contractor will build the tower at their cost. The chief also explained to the community on Saturday how that prospective partnership would work.

“[The contracting company] is hoping to get all three major carriers on board: T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon,” he said. “[The contractors] are the ones now reaching out to the carriers. They will work with the carriers; the carriers will come on. [The carriers] will then rent the space from the tower that the contractor has put up, and then the contractor will, in turn, do a profit sharing with Ocean Pines, and that is what they will pay us for the land.”

The police chief said he reached out to the contractor he has been in contact with because the previous towers they constructed are disguised. Robinson said the company built the cell phone reception structures on school properties in Wicomico County and accessorized them to look like decorative pieces for the facility.

“There are possibilities,” Robinson said. “It may not look like a traditional tower … there are different things they can do.”

Robinson and OPA have prioritized a cell phone tower to improve community safety. At a board meeting last month, the police chief said that making calls can be difficult in the area, particularly during holiday weekends and large gatherings. Neighborhood welfare may be compromised if endangered individuals cannot get through to 911. The proposed structure would alleviate these concerns.

The project is in the early planning phases and nothing is concrete. Viola said any updates and developments will “go through the board” and be communicated with the association membership.