P’ville Confronts T-Mobile Over Possible Local Law Violations
The Village of Pleasantville and T-Mobile couldn’t get on the same wavelength over alleged missteps by the telecommunications company. Now lawyers have been called in to settle the issue.
The village board recently passed a resolution to appoint special counsel to investigate, and if appropriate, prosecute T-Mobile for violations that the company allegedly committed. The real estate law firm Turner & Turner of White Plains has been retained to represent Pleasantville.
After multiple metal panels were lost during past storms that landed in the village’s dog park on Castleton Street, Pleasantville officials put T-Mobile on notice to repair its tower located near the site. The village also sent the company violation notices because T-Mobile hasn’t fulfilled certain obligations required under local wireless law, said Village Administrator Patricia Dwyer. One of the violations is a failure to include an annual inspection of the site, she said.
“We hired Turner & Turner as special counsel to represent the village in a summons and complaint against T-Mobile for failing to maintain the site properly,” Dwyer said. “They now have to answer those complaints in court.”
The two sides were due to address the issue in village court on Tuesday.
As a result of the fallen debris, the dog park was closed for about two months. The facility has since reopened.
In the resolution passed at the April 22 village board meeting, officials claimed that the incident was a threat to “human health and safety.”
Scherer said T-Mobile has made the needed repairs and the telecommunications company’s engineer has deemed the site safe.
“The dog park, after a long period of being closed, is now open,” Scherer said. “But the episode is certainly not closed.”
Dwyer said the village could force T-Mobile to abandon the tower, but that’s not the goal.
“We’re looking for them to remedy the contractual breaches as well, which are basically provide our annual reports, answer the summons, which are property maintenance code violations that they may be subject to fines for that,” Dwyer said. “And we need to hold them responsible like any other landlord in the village.”
Dwyer said once earlier correspondences between her office and T-Mobile failed to settle the matter, the village had no choice but to hire legal help in the matter.
