Ham radio operators air a grievance: Leave our hobby alone (Maine)

Controversial soaring edifices along the Downeast coast seem to be all the rage, most notably the proposed Flagpole of Freedom Park in Columbia Falls, which garnered national attention and prompted a temporary building moratorium.

But neighboring Jonesboro shouldn’t be overshadowed. Although much less imposing than the proposed 1,461-foot flagpole, a ham radio antenna array, with the highest antenna stretching 200 feet, was constructed last year atop Jonesboro’s picturesque blueberry barrens off Route 1.

The jarring backdrop along the Chandler River rankled some residents until an ordinance was enacted, but amateur radio buffs are still getting static, even as they fend off what they see as new interference with their hobby from Augusta.

“You know, when you wake up in the morning, you wouldn’t want to look at them every day,” said Wendy Schoppee, the Jonesboro town clerk and chair of the planning board of the seven ham radio antennas in her town. “So we decided we better put an ordinance in place, basically to keep them from other people’s properties, you know, so they don’t fall on somebody.”

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