Timothy D. Brown
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KENT — Timothy D. Brown is at peace after a day of resting in the sun on February 10th, 2021. He was 58 years old.
Born in New Milford and raised in Kent, Tim attended Kent Center School and then Housatonic Valley Regional High School where he graduated in 1981. Tim was passionate about sports and he excelled in hockey, baseball and soccer. He earned the Norman Stoddard award as well as The Presidential Award for Physical Fitness while attending Kent Center School. He was a standout hockey player growing up through the youth hockey program of squirts, peewees, and bantams. His love for playing baseball started in little league and continued to Babe Ruth baseball under coach Bruce Adams. His other passion was soccer. He was an exceptional goal tender in soccer in high school and earned the All-State trophy his senior year as well as a scholarship to the University of Connecticut.
Upon graduation from the University of Connecticut, Tim pursued his passion for building stone walls, a skill he learned at a young age and continued to pursue throughout his life. He moved to Eastport, Maine in 1996, where he honed his craft until he moved back to the Kent area in 2005. Tim’s day often started very early with a coffee at Gifford’s in Kent. Tim had a gift for creating amazing outdoor spaces and continued crafting stone walls throughout the area for the rest of his life. In addition to his stone work, he also worked security at the Kent School for 10 years. He had an extensive circle of great friends and was always lending a hand, his skill and muscle power to many people and working on projects at their homes.
Tim found joy in his work but was quick to point out that his greatest joy was being a father. He said the two happiest days of his life were the days when his sons were born, Atticus in 2009 and Willy in 2011. He gifted them with his love of the outdoors, quick reflexes and ability in math and read to them constantly. Tim’s family was all important to him.
Tim is survived by his sons, Atticus Simon and William Thomas, their mother, Katy Armstrong, his parents, William and Carol (nee Dodd) Brown, of St. Ignace, MI, brother Thomas (Judy) Brown, of Port Charlotte, FL, aunt Mrs. David Williamson (Mary Jane nee Dodd), of Gaylordsville, CT, Mrs. David Van de Weg (Dephane) of LA, Lawrence P (Sophia Napolitano) Brown of FL, Mrs. Harold Pope (Patricia) of FL, Mrs. Robert Hudson (Anne) of FL, Mrs. Morton Smith (Kay) of OH, Mrs. Richard Miller (Gayle) of MI, and Darryl Brown of MI; many cousins in CT, MI, FL, OH and LA. Tim is also survived by his nephew, Alex Brown, (USN), 3 nieces, Jessica Gourlay, of Venice, FL, Candice Zampella, and Kayla Katkin, of Port Charlotte, FL, four grandnephews and a grandniece, all of FL.
Tim was predeceased by his Grandparents; Thomas J “Jack” (Frances nee Rosati) Dodd, of Gaylordsville, CT and Leo Forrest (Ruth nee Johnston) Brown, of Saint Ignace, MI.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to the Kent Center School Scholarship Fund, PO Box 794 Kent, CT, 06757.
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Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.