ATKINSON — Selectmen are hoping a hearing Monday on a proposal to add three new antennas to the Hog Hill Tower will give them all the answers they need to make a decision.

SBA Tower II owns the 160-foot tower and has wanted to add three antennas since 2006.

A public hearing was scheduled for last month, but company representatives weren’t prepared to reveal all the details of the plan. Selectmen have said they won’t make a decision until all of the details are explained in a public forum so residents can comment.

“I expect to hear a lot from the applicant and the public,” Selectman Bill Friel said.

The current proposal is almost identical to the one denied a special exception by the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment in March 2007. After that decision, SBA Tower II filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. A federal judge ruled in September 2008 it was up to the selectmen to decide the case. At the time of the ZBA decision, the tower was owned by Marine Tower.

Selectmen and some nearby residents said part of the problem with the new proposal is that there have been changes made over the years that were never approved by the town. Previous owners failed to get required annual inspections from the town and landscape the property as expected.

But at a meeting last month with selectmen, SBA Tower’s attorney, Steven Grill, said things will be different this time.

Grill said the company is committed to complying with the town’s rules and notifying them of changes.

Some residents can’t wait for the antennas to help improve cell phone coverage.

Selectmen’s Chairman Fred Childs said approving the proposal could pave the way for other telecommunications companies putting antennas on the tower.

“Once they get the permit, they can’t refuse another company,” Childs said.

The current proposal is for T-Mobile customers.

Selectmen said they will made a decision on the proposal at a later date.

The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Atkinson Town Hall.

Anti Electromagnetic Radiation