Richmond (Lenox Mountain)
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Fire tower location: Lenox Mountain, Richmond, Berkshire County, MA DCR took the land for the Lenox Mountain fire tower by eminent domain in 1952. The state does not own the access road, nor does it maintain the power line. The current tower was built in 1971. In 1992, Mike Tirrell, now DCR's fire chief, wrote a memo in which he said: "A considerable amount of revenue could be generated by this facility, and D.E.M. should seek a large percent of this amount." The fire tower burned in 1994 with telecommunications equipment in it but none owned by DCR. The county's emergency communications equipment was temporarily relocated to the nearby Warner Cable tower. Shortly after that incident, Larry Ray, DCR's district fire chief, wrote: "I stated that the Department was not planning any immediate plans to replace the cabin and since the site had not been manned in some years the Department was not moving to replace it." In a 1996 memo written after an inspection of the fire damage, John Motroni, DCR's high-ground manager, wrote "The tower is fine for communication purposes...That's all the cabin was used for over the past 15 years...My recommendation is that we do not rebuild the cabin, keep the tower up for possible revenue enhancement, and allow the use for communications by other government agencies." In 1999, Mr. Motroni and Tom Vreeland, technology coordinator for the Southern Berkshire Regional School District, appeared before the Richmond Board of Selectmen seeking approval for a telecommunications installation at the tower by the school district. According to the Selectmen's minutes of that meeting, Mr. Motroni said DCR had not manned fire towers since 1969, and the Richmond fire tower was no longer needed. The school district requested approval for placement of four small flat-panel antennas on the fire tower and a transmission and power control unit (approximately 2x3x4 feet) on the ground under it, with an AC power connection. A fact sheet submitted to the Selectmen stated: "The network is being designed to have very high reliability, comparable to the existing terrestrial T1 communications lines, and to be scalable for future expandability." A few months later, Mr. Motroni wrote: "Long range plans are to rebuild the fire tower. Maybe two years. I need the funding to do this along with the road. As you know this is a complete rebuilding. That's why I need the road done to the summit." In a subsequent email, he said the cost of a new cabin would be about $15,000 if the work were done in-house. Shortly thereafter, the Berkshire Record reported that "DEM High Ground Manager John Motroni said his department has plans to renovate the Lenox Mountain fire tower but, at this time, is not considering it as a site for telecommunications equipment." Near the fire tower, on privately-owned land, is a commercial telecommunications facility which is poorly maintained and a visual eyesore and potential safety hazard for hikers to the Lenox Mountain summit.         
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