Tower proposal rejected!

The board voted to reject T-Mobile's proposal to build a cell tower by the water tanks or by The Club. The vote was 3 to reject, 2 not to reject, and one principled abstention (the Director works for a communications company and reasonably chose not to vote on this issue).

Public comment was overwhelmingly opposed to building a tower near the water tanks. It was suggested that NT did not have a flagpole and that no one could object to a flagpole. Residents said they could be against a tower disguised as a flagpole and still be patriotic. Two boards members reported that the tower/flagpole on the HBU ball field was not attractive. The fact is that there are three flagpoles in front of The Club on Walker School Rd. The surrounding trees have grown so the flags are hard to see from.

Facebook page #2

The previous has something to do with the tower. The Facebook page's owner, using the NT logo (so it could look like it's an official NT communication) posted:

One option being considered at the Monday board mtg is to install a 100ft "flag pole" at the Club that would double as a cell tower. One of the pros on this plan is restrooms could be incorporated at the base where the equipment is and we could get rid of the port-o-cans by the baseball field once and for all. I think it should be a Texas flag. What do you think?

I think the restrooms can be built without the cell tower. Or vice versa. They are two completely different issues. Does this make any sense? Am I missing something?

New Territory Facebook Fan Page

A member of the NTRCA board of directors put together a Fan Page on Facebook for New Territory. It's a nice idea. Any intellectual property or trademark lawyers out there know what it means that he's using the New Territory logo on the page and for his profile photo on his posts? From my meager training on intellectual property at work it could mean that New Territory can lose the right to control the trademark (logo) by allowing others to use it.

Another article in the Fort Bend Star

The Fort Bend Star reported on the tower story again on Wednesday.

New Territory Representative supplies information on nearby cell tower

They may have erred in the title by leaving out three letters (mis) in front of the word "information." As the article says

New Territory homeowner’s association Executive Director Susan Rash ... seemed to have all the bases covered but residents say she is just touting what T-Mobile is providing and no independent research has been provided.

It's fascinating that her posts indicate no skepticism toward the information T-Mobile has given her. I wouldn't expect a business I'm negotiating with to give me any information that was not in their best interest. I would expect the information they gave me to be presented in a way that advanced their interests and might not be completely correct. Have any of you ever bought a car? If so, you know what I mean.

Telfair residents object to the cell tower

Wednesday's edition of the Fort Bend Star reported on objections to the proposed tower in New Territory.

Neighbors in Telfair community now protesting plan for 120 ft. cell tower

Some folks in New Territory object to Telfair residents objecting to something that will happen in New Territory, but consider how we might feel if the situation were reversed and they wanted to building something large and ugly that would affect our lives.

Some imply they are hypocritical because there is a tower in Telfair. The tower in Telfair is ugly but the antennas are placed on an ugly structure supporting ugly power lines. The antennas and lines run through a residential area but are not visible from New Territory Drive. Only the people who bought homes near these power lines are affected. Our developers did a better job putting power lines in a less visible location.

One board member apparently taunted Telfair residents in what is in my opinion a very childish and irresponsible manner. Not only does this not reflect well on New Territory but it's not hard to imagine that in the future we will want to work with Telfair on areas of common concern. Will they want to partner with us then?