Cell Tower Crews Needed

Smith survives collision to take division lead at Waterford Speedbowl

On paper, Saturday was a good night for Jeff Smith at the Waterford Speedbowl.

The Old Lyme driver finished fourth in the 50-lap Late Model feature and leap-frogged over Groton’s Bruce Thomas Jr., who didn’t finish, to lead the division in points.

Smith, however, wasn’t thrilled with the results.

A muted “great” was all he could muster about taking the points lead, because of the manner in which it came.

Smith’s crew was feverishly working on putting the No. 15 car inside its trailer in anticipation of rain — a difficult task when the car lacks a hood.

That and a variety of other parts were lost in a multi-car collision on the seventh lap of the race. Joe Curioso  and Richard Staskowski came together and a host of others, including Smith and Thomas, were collected. Smith’s car went head-on into the side of Staskowski’s No. 5 car.

“There was a car on the outside of me, a car on the inside and someone was (sideways) in the middle, and I didn’t want to go either way and take a chance of screwing (the drivers to either side of him) up, so I slowed down as fast as I could, got pile-drived in the back and just drove into the guy in front of me. I had nowhere to go,” Smith said.

Smith, sans hood, got back onto the track where he had to battle the other cars and his own.

“Coming off the turn, I had a really bad push, I was turning the wheel all the way to the left and hoping for the best,” Smith said. “It was all over the place. I was babying coming off (the turns) because if I had stepped on the gas too much, it would have come out from under me.”

The only good thing for Smith and Thomas was that they have an extra week to recover. The Wings ‘n Wheels program at the Speedbowl on Saturday does not include the Late Models.

The shopping list will be long for the No. 15 car in the interim. On Saturday, Smith thought he needed a new nose on the car and a new front bumper, as well as some possible front end work. He didn’t have the heart yet to look at the back where he assumed the back bumper was also caved in toward the fuel cell.

Waterford driver happy

There were plenty of fans at the Speedbowl pulling for the No. 57 car on Saturday night. Keith Rocco pulled even with five other current and former SK Modified drivers with six consecutive wins and he needed one more to claim that mark for himself.

Hearing for London Grove's 350-foot cell tower possible in August ...

Staff Writer

London Grove Township is in the final stages of creating an amendment to an ordinance allowing the construction of a 350-foot cell tower for police and emergency use. It would be at the site of the existing 175-foot cell tower near the police barracks.

Representatives from the state police and Harrisburg urged board supervisors to take swift action so that they can begin working on a tower that would improve police and emergency communications in the region, and especially in the township.

Currently, the township does not have 100 percent radio road coverage, leaving police and ambulance and fire crews with communication gaps. The southern part of the township, characterized by lower-lying areas and more rolling hills, would benefit the most from the upgrade. The new tower would provide almost complete coverage for the township.

Other sites, including the SECCRA landfill, were considered during the process. However, after investigation, they provided far less coverage than the proposed location.

Because of the height, the tower would have to shine a blinking light 24 hours a day to warn aircraft. Microwaves would also be emitted to connect to other towers.

John Nally, of the Pennsylvania Office of Administration, Public Safety Radio Services, based in Harrisburg, offered assurances that neighbors wouldn’t see the beam.

“Everybody will see it,” quipped supervisor Dave Connors, referring to physical height of the tower.

While acknowledging that the tower needed to be built for safety reasons, several supervisors were still concerned that it would be a major eyesore. For height reference, Nally pointed out private towers on Route 896 and in Cochranville that are that height or taller.

Supervisor Tim Nelson wanted to know if the township or Nancy Truitt, who leases the tower property to the police, could take in revenue somehow for commercial carriers possibly also using the tower. The state and county get the top spot on the tower, but if there is still space, the state may be able to lease it to private carriers, as it does on other towers. Presently, the state takes in revenue for commercial leasing.

“The truth is, the tower’s a necessity,” Nelson said. But “it’s here, let’s make of it the best we can.”

The planning commission, who “tore [the plan] apart” according to supervisor and commission member Bill Grandizio, reported that it had approved the plan.

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