Several Sidney Center residents opposed to the planned construction of a communications tower near their homes said they will protest the project at tonight's Sidney school board meeting.

The board meeting will be in the Sidney High School cafeteria at 7 p.m.

Officials for CPU Industries of Bainbridge said they applied in December to the town of Sidney for a permit to build a tower for Internet communications service on Vandervort Hill Road.

MKL Network, a subsidiary of CPU, would operate the tower, providing wireless service to several hundred MKL Net customers in the Sidney Center area, said CPU President Joseph Hernandez.

Those who oppose the project suggest the Sidney Central School District, which already has free Internet service through Time Warner Cable's Road Runner Internet service, will end up paying for the installation of the tower to get the same service.

Hernandez said the residents are misinformed.

"We have no contract with Sidney schools or with anybody else to build a tower," Hernandez said.

CPU, he said, is building the tower to provide service to several hundred customers in the area who have requested the wireless Internet service.

The district has, however, said it will purchase the service to connect the network between all the schools in the district, Hernandez noted.

A call to Sidney Central School District Superintendent Dominic Nuciforo was not returned Monday.

"If they choose MKL wireless for their Internet, it will be a faster, more reliable service," Hernandez said.

A call to Time Warner officials was not returned Monday.

Hernandez said Road Runner has been available in Sidney Center for about a year and the school is using it as a free service.

Cathy McNulty, who owns land next to the proposed tower site, said she plans to be at the meeting.

"I'm afraid that this is the beginning of something that would harm our hill, in terms of it being a nice place to live," McNulty said. The only thing that might make the tower worthwhile is if it provided better and faster wireless service than Road Runner, she said.

The 96-foot tall free-standing tower would be 45-inches wide at the base and 9-inches wide at the top, Hernandez said.

Robert Sanderlin, who lives across from the proposed site, said he is concerned that the operation of his implanted pacemaker could be compromised by the tower's emissions.

Hernandez said the tower operates at a very low wattage — 100 milliwatts of power. The tower differs from cell towers in that it is built for Internet communications only, he said.

Hernandez said a contract between the company and a Vandervort Road landowner has already been drawn up. The agreement says the landowner would rent his property to CPU for the tower, Hernandez said.

The property owner, he said, drew up the contract himself. The agreement includes a stipulation that allows for other antennas to be added for emergency services.

Town of Sidney Supervisor Joseph Maddalone said he believes the planning board will give the project a green light.

"As far as the planning board is concerned, (CPU) has done everything they need to do," said Maddalone. "We've got a good board, they've gone by all the rules and this thing is probably going to be passed."