About eight residents huddled in the Grant Martin Egan Technology Suite at the library on Tuesday night to discuss their concerns about a potential telecommunications tower in their neighbourhood.
The open house took place to discuss an application by Shared Network Canada to build a 60-metre tall telecommunications tower on the Eleventh Line in Collingwood, north of Mountain Road.
Marika Hanych and her husband Walter live on Eleventh Line near the proposed site.
“These maps are fine, but why don’t they provide a map that shows the... health effects of radio transmission and electromagnetic fields? We know they cause cancer, and we know there are all kind of health effects associated with it, so there is a danger,” asked Walter Hanych.
Hanych’s concerns about health were echoed by other residents attending the open house.
According to the town’s website, the proposal includes a 15-metre by 15-metre fenced compound area at the base of the tower with equipment cabinets. Wireless and data carriers would be attaching their equipment to the tower to increase voice and data services for the surrounding area.
Telecommunications towers are regulated by the Federal government through ISED, formerly Industry Canada. Collingwood also has its own telecommunications protocol.
In regards to health and safety, all wireless carriers must comply with Safety Code 6 (SC6), which is Health Canada's directive governing wireless health and safety. SC6 is based on an extensive review of the research on human health and radio frequency emissions, and is consistent with policies in other industrialized countries. Therefore, Shared Network Canada is not required to address complaints around health concerns.
“It's not that health concerns are dismissed, but rather that they are already addressed in the Health Canada regulations that all wireless operators must follow,” said Shared Network Canada President Dan Gibbons. “In virtually all cases, the radio frequency emissions from these towers are far below the SC6 limits, particularly for towers of this height.”
But Marika Hanych still has worries.
“What the federal government says isn’t necessarily what’s best for us,” she said. “We know we live in an electronic world. We can’t get away from electromagnetic fields. We’re surrounded by them unless we want to give up our cell phones.”
“I understand that, but I don’t want it next door to me,” she said, adding that it should be moved to a more industrial area.
Also brought up as a concern during the meeting was a perceived lack of communication.
While the Hanychs say they did receive a letter regarding the installation, their neighbour did not. Other residents in attendance at the open house who live nearby the proposed site also said they did not receive a letter. While there is a sign posted on the site, a resident said that no one sees it as it’s placed at a dead end street that doesn’t see traffic.
Hanych also expressed dismay that there wasn’t a formal presentation at the open house.
“It’s just us sharing our thoughts,” she said.
According to Gibbons, his company currently has a lease with the landowner of the Eleventh Line property, which is a numbered company.
“It's typical in the industry to negotiate a ground lease first and then apply to put up the tower with the local municipality,” he said, adding that all the town protocols have been followed in regards to this application.
“Our business is based on the concept of multiple carriers sharing a single tower. We believe this model is a good approach to minimize the number of tower sites needed,” said Gibbons.
Gibbons said that Shared Network Canada does have an agreement with an anchor carrier in place subject to the tower being approved, but the name of the carrier can’t be disclosed at this time due to confidentiality concerns.
“Our goal is always to ensure our towers match up to a service need, and to pick the location that best balances the service need and the land use concerns in the area,” he said. “We will ensure that we answer all the comments that we receive from the public, and from municipal staff.”
Coun. Tina Comi also attended the open house. While she clarified to CollingwoodToday she was not in attendance as a representative from the town, she said she attended because the issue piqued her interest. Comi has worked in the technology industry for 18 years as a wireless implementation engineer, liaising between cell phone companies and municipalities.
“I have concerns about this kind of speculative tower development,” she said, adding that she intended to speak with town staff about the information package put forward to the town by Shared Network Canada.
When deciding on a specific location in Collingwood, Gibbons says many properties were investigated.
“We rejected several locations because we felt they were too close in proximity to other homes. The location we selected was the only willing landlord that could meet our tower location requirements,” he said, adding that the proposed site is about 250 metres away from the nearest resident, which would typically be considered a large setback for a tower site.
The goal of the open house was to assemble comments from residents to be addressed by Shared Network Canada. If you missed the open house but would still like to give feedback, email Tracey Pillon-Abbs with Shared Network Canada by Dec. 18.
Following the information session, town staff will prepare a report for council's consideration. The report will go through development services standing committee first, where members of the public can attend and make comment to members of the committee. According to Shared Network Canada, the issue is expected to come before council in the summer of 2019.
