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PAUL SMITHS - A long-awaited cell-phone tower at Paul Smith's College was switched on Monday, but town of Brighton residents are upset because the new coverage barely reaches beyond the campus.

Town Councilman Jeff Leavitt, of Gabriels, ran in 2007 on a platform of getting cell-phone service in the town. He said Wednesday he has been lobbying Verizon for several years and was excited when he discovered the company planned to erect a cell tower on the Paul Smith's campus.

"I was incredibly elated," Leavitt said. "I thought, 'Wonderful. My constituents in the town of Brighton can enter the 21st century.'"

But now that the tower has been activated, Leavitt and his constituents found that the improved coverage only extends in a perimeter of about a half-mile beyond the college's campus, he said.

Initially, plans for the Paul Smith's tower called for it to be 94 feet tall, Leavitt said, but the one that was installed is 65 feet. Leavitt said his Verizon contact told him that height was arrived at through a compromise with the state Adirondack Park Agency.

Verizon spokesman John O'Malley acknowledged the cell tower provides coverage primarily for the campus and the immediate area around it.

"When a tower is only that tall, it's going to have a limited coverage area" compared to one outside the park that is 200 feet tall, O'Malley said.

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said the agency expects coverage to continue to improve as it continues to work with telecommunication companies on siting and approving cell towers. He pointed out that the agency has issued almost two dozen general permits this year to cellular companies that are finding locations where they can co-locate antennas on existing structures rather than build new towers.

In Brighton, however, there aren't many towers to co-locate on.

Leavitt says not having cell phone service in most of Brighton is unsafe, especially for people driving along state routes 30 and 458.

"Because those are some very desolate stretches of roads that people travel extensively, and as a matter of life safety, statistically speaking, it will not be very long before someone else meets the fate of Alfred Langer, the gentleman who froze to death on the side of the Northway" in January 2007, Leavitt said.

He noted a crash on Sunday in which 19-year-old Celeste Amell of Piercefield reportedly fell asleep at the wheel on state Route 30 in McColloms. She had to sit in the cold to wait for help because she had no cell service, and emergency responders were standing on top of cars to get better service, said Leavitt, who was there at the scene to tow the car; he owns a towing business.

"What is needed is a service provider that is willing to step up to the plate and put an effort forth, and that there needs to be a practical outlook on preserving the environment at the expense of the human race," Leavitt said.

There are a number of considerations that go into planning the location and size of a tower, O'Malley said. He said Verizon representatives felt the campus site was a good one because of the demand in that particular area.

"When you're looking at a college campus, there tends to be a lot more demand on a college campus than there would be in, say, an area outside of town," O'Malley said.

Verizon is trying to expand its coverage as much as it can, and the company always appreciates input from customers and local officials, he said.

"(The lack of service in Brighton is) certainly not for lack of attention on our part," O'Malley said. "We certainly know where we've got coverage and where we need to expand our coverage."

But because of limited resources, the company needs to prioritize where it installs towers, he said. Verizon will, however, continue to look for opportunities to expand its network in that area and throughout the Park, O'Malley said.

Leavitt said he plans to hold a meeting with delegates from Brighton and the neighboring towns of Duane and Santa Clara in hopes that the three towns can join up to lobby for more service.

"Here in Brighton, we are looking to be able to pick up a telephone and make a phone call, some 50 years after we put a man on the moon," Leavitt said.

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Contact Jessica Collier at 891-2600 ext. 25 or jcollier@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.