FARMINGTON — An application to place U.S. Cellular antennas atop the Education Building at the University of Maine at Farmington comes under review by the Planning Board at 6 p.m. Monday in the Municipal Building.

KJK Wireless, a Massachusetts consultant firm acting for U.S. Cellular, proposes placing three rooftop ballast-mounted antennas, 6 to 8 feet in height, on the building at 186 High St. The firm is entering into a five-year lease agreement with UMF for roof space and space for their equipment, a 12- by 20-foot area at ground level on the corner of the building.

The new antennas are expected to fill in gaps in cellular coverage in the downtown area, Code Enforcement Officer Steve Kaiser said. It is not a tower but comes under the town’s wireless ordinance as an alternative to a tower structure.

The three ballast mounts, or sleds, consist of 12 panel antennas, four white-rod antennas set on each of the three ballast mounts. The plan includes setting two of the antenna ballast mounts on the roof near the front entrance on High Street. The third location is toward the back of the building.

Located in a village residential zone, a commercial tower is not allowed at that location but an alternative structure, one used to support antennas, could be accepted with Planning Board approval, he said.

Under the town’s ordinance, alternate tower structures include clock towers, bell steeples, light poles and water towers.

The Education Building location, which also provides a more seamless cell phone coverage around the campus area, is not located within either the Farmington Village Historic District or the Farmington Historic District as designated by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, he said. New towers are not permitted within the historic districts but alternate structures can be approved by the board.

Ryan Low, vice president for administration at UMF who signed the lease agreement with KJK Wireless, was unavailable Friday for comment on the plan.

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