MANCHESTER — An aldermanic committee has voted to reject a proposed cellphone tower on Manchester Water Works land off Cohas Avenue.

The Committee on Lands and Buildings voted unanimously Tuesday to receive and file – to oppose – the proposed lease agreement between AT&T and the Water Works.

More than two dozen area residents attended the meeting to oppose the 100-foot tower, and they cheered after the vote.

The full Board of Mayor and Aldermen still will vote on the proposed tower.

Alderman-at-large Joe Kelly Levasseur said ahead of the vote that the residential neighborhood was not the right place for the tower.

“As much as I respect the Water Works, there isn’t a price you can put on this,” he said. “Whatever Water Works would gain we would lose when the assessed value of those houses comes down.”

The site of the proposed tower is a wooded strip of land between a Water Works reservoir and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church.

The site is not far from the property where AT&T proposed erecting a cellphone tower nearly two years ago, also drawing heated opposition from residents. After the zoning board denied a variance for the site, AT&T took the city to federal court. The case is pending.

Under the proposed lease with the Water Works, AT&T would make an initial $100,000 payment to Water Works, and then pay $30,000 a year for the 25 years of the lease, with annual inflationary increases of 4 percent.

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