ABERFOYLE – A new telecommunication tower proposed to be located near the Brock Road roundabout has been rejected due to concerns about a previous lack of public consultation and a slew of resident concerns.
Despite a delegation from representatives of tower provider Shared Tower asking council to defer its decision at a meeting Wednesday morning, council said they felt the company didn't adequately investigate alternation locations opportunities for the 35-metre monopole telecommunication tower proposed for a rear part lot at 7426 Wellington Road 34 and would not be accepting the proposal.
Council deferred its decision on the application last September after expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of public consultation, moved to end its contract with the consultation company, Canadian Radiocommunications Information and Notification Services (CRINS) and directed Shared Tower Inc. to resubmit its application with consultation completed according to default Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) protocols.
However, a two-and-a-half-week public consultation period in January included in a new staff report on the proposed tower location said many residents were concerned about safety, the impact on their property resale values and having such a large tower near residential properties- not to mention still frustrated by the initial lack of public consultation.
"I am definitely in support of increasing connectivity and cell reception in our township but for me, this is a piece of infrastructure that is going to be there for a long time and it's important for our community and council to know for sure this is the best location," said Coun. Jessica Goyda, during the meeting.
The sole vote opposing the motion, Coun. Sara Bailey argued that the report should be deferred as the applicant didn't have a lot of time to address the issues brought up at the previous meeting and she felt Shared Tower deserved another opportunity to address council comments and scout new locations.
According to a statement from Shared Tower included in their application, the company has incurred considerable expenses due to CRINS' negligence as the township's agent and said the approval of the new location is considered to be a compromise to "crystalise" those losses.
In the event the new location was rejected, the report said the company wouldn't consider it a "conclusion to this matter" as they're then left with no solution to constructing their tower.
Responding to this statement directly during the meeting, Mayor James Seeley said he felt it was in bad faith and bordered on extortion as he interpreted it as threatening litigation against council if approval wasn't granted.
Given that construction of the tower's concrete pad commenced without municipal concurrence or consultation, council also directed staff to inform ISED about the decision and request that the site be decommissioned and restored.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
