WILTON — Planning Board members tabled a decision last week on an application from Central Maine Power Co. for a permit to install a communication antenna for smart meters over concerns prompted by a lack of information.

The board reviewed the after-the-fact application for use of a small home wind generator tower at 360 Walker Hill Road as the site for the antenna during their meeting Thursday.

Several abutting neighbors to the property brought questions that couldn’t or wouldn’t be answered, said neighbor Ken Coleman, who said he can see the CMP pole antenna from his home atop Walker Hill.

The antenna has been on the tower for a couple weeks, he said.  The tower hasn’t been used as a wind generator for at least the seven years Coleman has lived near the tower.

Property owners Robert and Nicole Witt negotiated a contract with CMP to install the antenna on the tower. Removal of the wind turbine began Tuesday.

Installation of smart meters has already begun in Wilton. Home meters will transmit information to the antenna and on to CMP, Robert Gashlin of Tilson Government Services, a consulting firm from Falmouth hired by CMP for this project, said before the meeting.

The antenna is about 33 inches in diameter and is attached 80 feet up on the 100-foot tower, he said.

A permit is needed for the change of use from a small home wind generator to a commercial antenna, Paul Montague, Wilton’s code enforcement officer, said before the meeting.

Neighbors wanted to know where the information was being transmitted to and how many times a day, said Terry Brann, chairman of the Wilton selectmen and an abutting neighbor to the tower who attended the meeting.

Gashlin couldn’t answer the questions posed by residents, he said.

Those attending the meeting Thursday were concerned about health, safety and interference caused by the antenna, Montague said Wednesday. The town office has received one complaint from a neighbor claiming the antenna is interfering with a cordless phone. Montague said he would check into it.

Questions about what types of transmissions, frequencies and where the information is being transferred were not answered, he said.

“The meeting left most who attended very frustrated and not at all happy with the results or with CMP,” Coleman said.

Brann agreed that he was disappointed. The smart meters and all the unknowns associated with them are something he doesn’t accept easily, he said.

Previous information received pertained to just smart meters on individual homes but never mentioned the need for antennas to transmit or safety issues regarding their use, he said.

While Gashlin indicated the town didn’t respond to CMP’s offer for a public informational meeting, Brann said they only promoted smart meters and town officials thought it was up to individuals to make up their own minds. Now, however, there is an antenna and tower involved and the public should have a say in this, he said.

Selectmen discussed the issue at their meeting Tuesday and decided to contact CMP to set up an informational meeting for town residents during a future board meeting. They want the  company to send someone who can answer the questions posed by Wilton residents.

CMP needs to provide more information about antenna transmissions by Thursday in order to make the agenda for the board’s Sept. 15 meeting, Montague said Wednesday. Otherwise the Planning Board will continue its work in October.

 [email protected]