A short digression to consider a heretofore unsuggested suggestion. American Tower part 3.

What did we learn from the American Tower proposal ? Well there does not seem to be  really compelling before and after pictures. What has been provided often shows a not so bad befores and a only slighty if at all improved afters.

We do see a need for the tower however and that need has not been  communicated or is not widely understood .We mentioned at the that last planning meeting some commissioners thought (at least initially) that the tower would improve the bars on  their flip phones. It won't. American Tower says that increase is unrelated to their current proposal and that coverage will come later  as an improvement to cellular mounted antennas  on Christ Church Cranbrook.

What Clemis tower will do is provide increased county wide public safety communications and  enhanced in building coverage  for police, fire, and emergency units. That is the need.

To fulfill it American Tower wants to lease land at the DPW lot. To cover their costs American Tower also wants to put rings on the 120 foot sufficient Clemis Tower and boost it's height to 140 feet in order to attach antennas for other cellular carriers.

Some have questioned the 20 foot tower addition. Some have questioned the location of the DPW.

We believe we will be the first to to question any location in the City of Bloomfield Hills.

Since cellular signals  pay no attention to city limits the ideal solution in our opinion would be to place the 140 foot tower in a small but struggling strip center in an adjacent city. Troy the city of the future today  has always been more adventurous than us. Instead of disguising the tower as a tree one could disguise it as a 120 foot gorilla, a space person, or robot wearing a 20 foot cell phone carrier crown. It would serve as an attraction for  shoppers. The merchants could compete with themed displays in their stores to further enhance the Jurrasic Park/Star Wars effect indicated by 140 foot attention getting,  but public serving devise.  


Seriously, we are not kidding. There is time and place for everything. The Clemis/American Tower people decided the City of Bloomfield Hills would be an ideal place for the tower in part because we don't have any monster towers. Probably for the same reason the City does not have a used car lot  or a 24 hour a day video game arcade.

Some say the City of Bloomfield Hills has the word "Sucker " written all over it. My wife says it every time a friend  recommends a craftsman or service provider who does "great work at a great price" in communities like Pleasant Ridge, or  Huntington Woods. We  get an estimate and   it doesn't matter that our kitchen is much smaller than the friend who's culinary tastes require aircraft hanger proportions. We always get the four times as much "Bloomfield Hills " price.When my wife  points out the discrepancy there is no disagreement or lowering of price. Just a vague reference to pricing as pricing. When the bidder leaves and my wife has wadded the proposal up and thrown in the general direction of the trash, I hear the immortal words, " I swear the City of Bloomfield Hills has the word... written all over it !"


Uncle Mike who is actually a couple of months older than City of Bloomfield Hills will also hear about it and mutter the equally famous (at least to us) combination word  "whaddygonado" in a monotone lament.