CHELSEA — A proposal to construct a 199-foot AT&T cellphone tower in Chelsea — which mirrors a controversial proposal in Thetford — is raising questions among some town officials.

On one hand, many officials think the tower on a hill near the intersection of routes 110 and 113 could provide some desperately needed phone service; on the other, some wonder whether it could disrupt the environment and landscape of the rural village.

The light gray tower would reach over 100 feet above the tree canopy and would be set back around 1,000 feet from 11 Riverside Drive, on land owned by a Georgia-based organization, Affordable Housing America, according to a project overview from AT&T. It would include a 1,700-foot access road with power lines running along it, which would stretch behind the Brookhaven Treatment and Learning Center, the overview said.

The tower is meant to improve cellular coverage around Chelsea, with special focus on Route 110, as part of the First Responder Network Authority, also called FirstNet. AT&T is using $25 million of federal funding, as well as its own funding, to erect dozens of cell towers across the state for FirstNet, a project that aims to create a national network of first responders.

The company released plans for the tower in late April and initially planned to bring the proposal to the Vermont Public Utilities Commission for approval by the end of June, but that date has been pushed back, according to Owen Smith, president of AT&T Northeast.

Last month, workers completed a balloon test to give Chelsea residents a view of where the tower would go and how high it could rise.

Chelsea officials haven’t had a hand in the proposal, but several Selectboard members have said they want to hold a public hearing soon to receive feedback on the tower from residents.

For now, several officials say they see both benefits and drawbacks to the development.

“It’s a broadband expansion and Chelsea needs that,” Selectboard member Liam Hogan said in an interview Tuesday. He added the expanded service could draw more businesses and young people to Chelsea, which could be beneficial in the long term. “If Chelsea isn’t going to get on board with this now, I don’t know if it’s going to come back around.”

Planning Commission member Susan Hardin, also a member of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission, agreed that the town is in desperate need of more cellular coverage, which she said could be a life-saver for victims of domestic violence when they are being threatened.

But she wondered whether one tower would be able to accomplish bringing cellular coverage to all of the rural pockets that need it around Chelsea.

Hardin, who lives a short walk from the site, said she has other concerns as well, like how the access road could disrupt the environment of the woods and the deer that bed down there.

“If you walk the path of the proposed road, it crosses a beautiful spring that is fountaining out of the rock ledge and trickling down the hill,” Hardin said, adding that it’s one of the town’s sources of water.

Hardin said she’s not planning to sell her house so she’s not concerned about a decrease to her property value. However, she is worried about the look of the tower rising high above the treetops.

“Anybody driving through our town, looking to live here, will see it,” she said.

Some of Hardin’s concerns are shared by residents as well, according to Selectboard member Levar Cole who said “a number of people” have independently expressed concerns over the tower. A main concern is whether it will be able to bring adequate cell coverage to the town.

Both Cole and Hardin said they were open to an alternative location for the tower, but no specific alternative has been picked.

“We all seem amenable to a working solution that’s in the best interests or better interest of the town,” Cole said.

Smith said he hasn’t heard those concerns from Chelsea residents, but that the company is eager to work with the town on an option that fits everyone.

“AT&T picked this location in conjunction with the Department of Safety and the state of Vermont,” Smith said. “This is where coverage is needed.”

He added that before the tower is built, company employees will do an environmental assessment of the entire site, and that AT&T is open to assessing the idea of an alternative site, if town residents call for one.

The tower bears many similarities to a proposed 190-foot tower AT&T is planning to build just off Sawnee Bean Road in Thetford Center, near Route 113. Though both plans were announced in late April, the Thetford tower has drawn more outcry from residents during public meeting sessions in recent weeks, with many people concerned about the look of the tower and its impact on the environment.

Last week the town suggested AT&T consider building the tower in the Thetford Town Forest instead, arguing that it would be less visible to the public and would disrupt a less pristine woods. Selectboard Chairman Nick Clark said in an email Tuesday that AT&T is considering the site but hasn’t released an analysis of how viable that option could be.

Smith said AT&T officials are currently reviewing two alternative sites in Thetford; the Town Forest and another, privately owned spot, though he said the Thetford Town Forest looks “promising.”

AT&T has delayed plans to submit the tower proposals to the PUC in order to give residents in both towns more time for feedback and give the company more time to assess alternative options.

Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.