East Lyme — More than 50 residents gathered at Town Hall Wednesday to learn about a company's plans to build a temporary cell tower off Ancient Highway and a proposal to locate a permanent tower there.

Several residents at the information session, held by the town, asked questions about the plans — including how to stop them.

AT&T has filed a petition with the state Siting Council, which holds jurisdiction over the placement of cell towers in municipalities, to install an 85-foot temporary cell tower off Ancient Highway. The company also has begun the public noticing process for a permanent 175-foot tower at the same location.

AT&T said in its petition that it needs to find a temporary site for a cell tower, since its lease for the site of an existing cell tower will expire at the end of the year. The existing tower is off Scott Road by The Orchards, a residential development.

The cell company indicates in the petition that it is working with Ancient Highway Towers, a limited liability company, to also place a permanent tower at the Ancient Highway site. The company said in the petition that it also has identified an alternative, unnamed site for a permanent tower.

During Wednesday's information session, First Selectman Mark Nickerson said the Board of Selectmen will decide whether or not the town should become an intervenor, a status that he said would enable the town to become part of the "information-sharing" process with the Siting Council. He said it will be on the agenda for the board's next meeting, May 6.

Nickerson said that while his "personal passion" is that cell towers should not be placed in the middle of a neighborhood, the board has to decide the matter.

Some residents stayed after the meeting to form a group to divide up tasks, including plans to contact both a lawyer and the Siting Council.

During the meeting, several people said they live near the site but had not been notified of the cell company's plans. They pointed to a map included in the petition that didn't show all the houses in the area.

Resident Rocco Tricarico described installing a temporary tower before a permanent one as a "bait-and-switch" tactic that would enable the company to "fast-track" an application. After installing a temporary tower, he said companies can then apply to install a permanent tower at a site in which trees already have been cut and an access road already has been built.

Tracy Collins, an attorney for the town, said that a temporary application is an "expedited process." The application doesn't require a certificate of environmental compatibility and has fewer requirements of notifying nearby residents than a permanent tower.

"It requires much less notice to the neighboring homeowners," she said.

Nickerson said he has in mind a town-owned site, near the proposed parcel, that is a more remote location for a cell tower.

But Collins pointed out that it's likely the town already would have heard from the cell company if the company were interested in that site.

In an interview last week, Melanie Bachman, acting executive director of the Siting Council, said a representative of the council likely would conduct a site walk of the area next month, with a decision reached as early as the council's May 28 meeting.

She said that the council has not yet received a petition for a permanent tower. The company first has to undergo a 90-day public noticing process, which began on April 13, before it can file a petition with the council.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich