City council wants to read the updated Official Community Plan (OCP) and its guidance about communications towers before deciding whether to approve SaskTel’s application for a new 5G tower.
That was one takeaway from a discussion council had during its Sept. 25 regular meeting about the Crown corporation’s application to build a new communications tower near Elgin Park.
Council later voted 4-2 to receive and file the motion, essentially doing nothing. Councillors Jamey Logan, Crystal Froese, Doug Blanc and Heather Eby were in favour, while councillors Dawn Luhning and Kim Robison were opposed.
Mayor Clive Tolley was absent.
5G a ‘double-edged sword’
Robinson said society is living “in an age of mistrust,” so he understood some residents’ concerns about 5G technology. However, based on SaskTel’s presentation, he better understood that residents will be less affected by radio frequency emissions because of the new tower’s 35-metre height.
He acknowledged that 5G technology is a “double-edged sword” since not only does it offer better service, but it can negatively affect people’s health.
Robinson later told the Express that he was against receiving and filing the motion since he wanted the issue dealt with immediately. Moreover, he wasn’t convinced waiting for the new OCP was worth it because city hall doesn’t follow it closely anyway — pointing to the new school’s location as an example.
Not a tech expert
Luhning said that while she didn’t “propose to know … the business of SaskTel and where this tower should be,” she understood from its presentation that the towers must be a specific distance from other poles so wireless service provides appropriate speeds.
Everyone has a smartphone and would be in trouble if the towers went down in an emergency, she continued. While the OCP will come soon and council may be rushing this decision, no one on council was an expert in building cell towers and ensuring citizens have the required services.
“I’m not going to get into the health issues either because, I mean, we all have these things (smartphones and earbuds) to our head half the time anyway … ,” she chuckled. “I think we need to keep pace with these technology infrastructure needs that are required in our city.”
Critical infrastructure
What struck Eby from SaskTel’s presentation is cell towers are “critical pieces of modern infrastructure,” while she pointed out that power poles probably annoyed people when the province first installed them decades ago. While they “weren’t very pretty,” they were part of modern infrastructure back then.
“We all know how antsy we get if the cell service is bad,” she added.
Eby asked city administration if it knew what the updated OCP would say about communications towers and whether taller poles would be allowed.
Jim Dixon, economic development manager, said he didn’t know. However, city hall has a copy of the City of Regina’s OCP, which stipulates height restrictions for such towers since that community faced similar issues.
Dixon added that the new OCP should arrive by early 2024.
Effect of ‘enormous’ towers
The absence of the updated OCP document and Cormier’s presentation persuaded Froese to vote against the tower. She pointed out that SaskTel’s other 5G towers are evenly spread out across Moose Jaw and in areas with few residents, such as near a golf course.
Froese lives on South Hill and can see the “enormous” 5G tower across the valley. She couldn’t imagine how such a tall tower would affect Elgin Park or nearby residents.
“Even if the OCP comes back regarding 5G, I still don’t agree with a huge tower being put in this park,” she added. “I would like to see them choose another location.”
Choose another location
When SaskTel came in July asking to erect a 5G tower on Coteau Street West, Blanc said he researched what the tower’s health effects would be on residents. He found arguments in favour and against 5G technology and conflicting data on health harms.
Blanc’s main concern was the tower would be on the park’s edge and affect sightlines for homeowners. He noted that many area residents have fixed up their yards, installed decks and want to relax comfortably there without a large tower looming over them.
“It kind of scares me a little bit to approve (this) when the City of Regina says it should not be near residents,” he added.
Logan thought council was rushing this decision, considering SaskTel had until 2027 to remove all 4G technology, while he wanted to wait for the updated OCP. Moreover, he didn’t want to affect the aesthetics of Elgin Park and thought an empty field near the Kinsmen Sportsplex was the best spot for a new tower.
The next regular council meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 10.
In response to some providers blocking access to Canadian news on their platforms, our website, MooseJawToday.com will continue to be your source for hyper-local Moose Jaw news. Bookmark MooseJawToday.com and sign up for our free online newsletter to read the latest local developments.
