MAHWAH — The crowd stood and clapped when the Council — after 14 years of back and forth — finally voted to approve the installation of a cell tower on municipal property off Rozanski Drive.

In a 5-2 vote, the Township Council approved a lease with Wireless EDGE Towers II to install the tower on the firehouse property during Thursday's regular meeting.

This is the fourth time since 2005 the Township Council has been asked to consider allowing a tower on Fire Company 3 property to correct a 2-mile-wide dead zone on the township's northern border.

An estimated 5,300 residents are affected by the dead zone, in addition to those traveling along nearby Route 17. However, in each case, residents of seven homes on adjacent Aspen Court have persuaded council members to reverse their decision or avoid proceeding with a lease.

Council members George Ervin and Michelle Crowe Paz voted against the proposal without comment. Councilman James Wysocki, who was previously against the tower's installation, changed his vote to approve the lease.

"The other day I drove by Silver Creek and saw a guy in a wheelchair, and I asked myself - 'what would happen if he fell in the lake'," Wysocki said. "My mind was made up until I saw that guy," he said, then apologized to the people of Aspen Court.

Mayor John Roth said the lease "provides significant revenue for the township as well as service to the Masonicus area." The firehouse is off Masonicus Road on Rozanskie.

Township Attorney Brian Campion said the bid was highest of three received for the project. The base annual rent offered was $62,012 for the first company and $43,408 for up to three additional co-locators on the site, said Campion after the meeting.

The lease has yet to be signed, Campion said.

The lessee must also obtain other governmental approvals including New Jersey DEP wetlands delineation, municipal site plan approval and building permits, he said.

No residents from Aspen Court spoke during Thursday's public hearing.

Sixteen residents spoke in favor of a tower, including Auris Browne of Osborne Court. Browne said she had moved into her house that same day after a delay to install WiFi to correct poor cell phone reception.

"I am a doctor," Browne said. "If you have a heart attack and don't get to the hospital soon enough, you're dead. This is not about me having cell service in my house. It's about safety."

Doreen Entrup of Cortland Trail, who was attacked by a coyote as she walked near her home Aug. 2 also addressed the Council. Entrup had poor cell service on her mobile phone, but said she managed to call her neighbor for assistance because she had her WiFi password already saved in her phone. However, her neighbor was transferred three times after she called 911 before she was able to get help. She blamed it on the poor reception in the area.

"If you have a cell tower closer in vicinity you have a higher probability of not being transferred three times, which my neighbor was," Entrup said.

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Council had sought to place the tower on secluded Board of Education property near Secor's Farm on Airmont Avenue. The board accepted a bid from AT&T to do so in January 2018. However, AT&T withdrew from the lease agreement last August after the New Jersey DEP declared the site unbuildable wetlands.

The tower became a political football last November when then-Mayor William Laforet authorized bids on a tower at Fire Company 3 just before his recall vote. After residents approved Laforet's recall, council voted to rescind the bid solicitation.