Residents Fail To Topple Tower Plans
After a victory in 2023 in a 35 meter tower proposal residents in the vicinity of Elgin Park failed to stop Sask Tel’s proposed plans to install a larger 5G cellular tower this past Tuesday afternoon.
In many ways it was a David versus Goliath battle where residents wanted their neighbourhood untouched. But the technical needs of a Crown corporation wanting to facilitate what they said was better cell service that won out.
After a pair of presentations and questions Councillors Heather Eby, Chris Warren, Dawn Luhning and Carla DeLaurier voted in favour of the proposal.
Mayor James Murdock was the lone voice on Council that sided with the residents.
Councillors Jamey Logan and Patrick Boyle were both absent from the meeting.
The present 15 meter cellular tower in Elgin Park is largely obscured by nature trees. It is not inside a fenced off area. The proposed new tower will be twice the height or 30 meters tall and fenced in - MJ Independent photo
Residents’ Side
Speaking at the June 23rd regular meeting of Council area resident Howard (Howie) Cormier appeared to express his and the resident’s opposition to a proposed 30 meter 5G cellular tower in Elgin Park.
It was Cormier’s second appearance at Council on the issue having spoken against a proposed 35 meter 5G tower in 2023.
Cormier claimed in 2023 he had received a text from a then council member he had won and SaskTel would have to come back with a new location and application.
The 30 meter tower proposal is a new application but for the same location proposed in 2023.
“It’s like a slap in the face but it is what it is,” he told Council.
The existing tower is 15 meters high with three antennas and two maintenance cabinets and will be replaced under the proposal with a 30 meter high tower with 12 antennas and two bigger maintenance cabinets and a fence around it.
Cormier spoke about how Elgin Park was one of the six jewel parks in the city with recreation programs for children.
“The park always has kids playing in it.”
Cormier spoke about how the Parks and Recreation program has a duty to enhance the beauty of parks and public spaces like Elgin Park.
“This huge 30 meter tower and maintenance cabinets with chain link fence and danger signs won’t be anything to beautify Elgin Park.”
The tower’s base will be within 100 feet of four homes and the prairie South School Division’s main office.
“Another 20 to 25 homes will be in full view of the tower whether they sit on their front porch or their rear deck taking away the beauty of the park.”
Cormier said many other communities pushback against communications towers in green or recreational zones and Moose Jaw should do the same.
“It will definitely have an impact on homes and properties’ values. Such a huge tower towering over everything in the neighbourhood.”
Cormier mentioned Regina’s bylaw where 5G towers have to be at least 1.5 times the height from property lines, parks and school zones.
Howard Cormier addresses Council - MJ Independent photo
“The distance is primarily if the tower structurally fails it would not strike nearby buildings or property as it falls,” he said.
Cormier questioned why the existing Chinese built Huawei tower could not be replaced with a similar height Samsung tower and not a new 30 meter tall tower.
The Huawei tower needs to be decommissioned by the end of 2027 by a federal government order due to fears the Chinese product nay have hidden spyware.
He spoke about there being a lack of regulations when it came to radio waves and exposure by humans.
Cormier stated that there have been calls for the most stringent standards applied to 5G because of the lack of study on the effects to humans.
He said that there is the potential to cause damage to the nervous system and “even cancer to those living 24/7 in close proximity of 5G towers.”
A McGill study recommended to prevent health problems from Radio Frequency that such infrastructure be 1,000 - 1,500 feet from residences. “To minimize low frequency exposure.”
It should be noted the studies in this area are incomplete and the science is developing.
The tower’s having a one to three mile radius they can work in would make the proposed tower work in an empty field north of the Kinsmen Sportsplex, he said.
“To put one of that size would be devastating forever as it’s never coming down,” Cormier said, adding “I’m just trying to look out for the neighbourhood.”
SaskTel’s Side
Speaking remotely SaskTel made their case.
Chad Olson chief technology officer for SaskTel said the proposed tower “upgrade is critical to maintaining the service in the Palliser Heights, City View and CPR areas of Moose Jaw.”
Olson made their case point the existing tower would not support the new Samsung equipment. It’s due to the Samsung equipment’s higher weight and other factors.
“We don’t have any towers in Saskatchewan for our network that are 14.9 meters with Samsung deployed,” he said.
“The upgrade is critical to maintaining and improving wireless service in those areas. Beyond that rolling out wireless connectivity is and regulatory drivers are the main factors driving this project,” Olson said.
He stated SaskTel had no choice but to go ahead with the proposal or gave major impacts in cell services in Moose Jaw.
“If we are unable to move forward with our proposed project the current tower will need to be decommissioned by the end of 2027. Not only would this create an immediate and significant gap in this specific area of the city it would also have a cascading impact on the quality of the wireless service enjoyed by residents served by the surrounding towers,” he said.
With a growing customer base of 25 - 30 percent year over year for cellular services the system would continually degrade.
“The proposed replacement tower insures we can meet the federal directive while maintaining reliable wireless service for the people of Moose Jaw.” Olson said.
Additionally the proposed tower would increase overall performance.
“Reliable connectivity is essential for major urban centers like the City of Moose Jaw…but also for emergency services and public safety.”
He said the current location is the @m”most effective and efficient option to service the area.”
Olson also stated despite the studies all of SaskTel’s equipment complies with Heath Canada’s safety code six.
“These are the standards that include wide safety margins and our testing confirms emissions are well below allowable limits.”
Olson downplayed the tower being highly visible but like roads, utilities, power lines they’re essential to modern life.
“In this case the proposed tower is not only about improving service but it is driven to prevent a loss of service brought on by federally mandated network changes.”
Council asked SaskTel what other locations they’d looked at in Moose Jaw as a potential replacement to the Elgin Park site.
Brendan Hansen manager of corporate services said SaskTel had looked at a number of alternative sites.
In public consultations in 2023 it was suggested to move the site 500 meters north near the Kinsmen Arena but it wasn’t technically feasible.
“After meeting due diligence if this site would be capable of replacing the existing site it was deemed that this site would cause interference with the existing SaskTel towers in the area,” Hansen said.
Moving east or west of its present location would cause a major coverage gap in the area, he said.
“It would result in loss of coverage and loss of service in the area,” he claimed, adding “so that is why this site is the best location to continue that capacity and coverage.”
“Are you telling us today this is the only location that will work for the changes that are necessary,” Councillor Carla Delaurier asked.
Hansen said they had looked at a site near the Co-op on Caribou Street West but there would still be “significant loss of coverage and capacity in the existing (area).”
Councillor Chris Warren asked if it was possible to use a 15 meter tower to meet the federal requirements and existing service levels.
Olson replied the height of the tower (15 meter) is very limited in what it can provide.
“You could put another 15 meter tower there and deploy similar technology as to what is there with the Huawei the technology has moved on with 5G as well as usage off of the tower.”
“That site would be rendered pretty well useless in a number of years so if we can’t replace the 15 meter tower with a 30 meter tower we won’t replace the infrastructure,” he said.
Olson said SaskTel had not considered putting up two 15 meter towers with a second one else but that he did not view it as a “feasible option.”
Regarding minimum buffer zones Regina and Saskatoon has them.
But in Regina there are processes and the buffer zones but SaskTel has been successful getting exceptions Hansen said.
Council’s Discussion
Councillor Dawn Luhning said the entire issue should be left to the experts and not questioned.
“My only comments about this are that when cellphone service and this type of a service to a community and all communities is so important to our everyday life I really don’t understand the questioning of the experts around this. And the fact that SaskTel has indicated if we don’t have this tower put up there the cellphone service for our community is going to be limited. I’m not an expert in communications and I’m going to allow the experts to tell us when we use cellphones everyday we need additional power to support that service I think we have to approve something for our community,” Councillor Luhning said.
Mayor James Murdock said given the opposition from the neighbourhood he opposed the proposed tower.
“I worry about the aesthetics as well. That’s why we’re is a drastic change from 15 meters to 30 (meters). I’m just wondering how that actually fits into a neighbourhood. We rely on our cell coverage, data for daily functioning essentially. I’m thankful to the people who have presented this afternoon…because I’m neighbourhood based I myself will be voting against this motion as it stands right now,” Mayor Murdock said.
As part of the neighbourhood presentation a petition signed by 55 residents and 44 homes adjacent the proposed tower site was presented to Council.
Councillor Chris Warren said he appreciated the residents voicing their concerns but he was supporting the proposed tower.
“I can appreciate there is a handful of signatures from neighbourhood residents around this. That’s why we’re here and that’s democracy…when it comes to cell service…I believe whether it’s the government or national organizations we speak to cell service as a basic human right in this day and age. Because so much of our lives are reliant on the Internet and cell phones.”