Residents cross over cellphone tower in cemetery

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2023 (1077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HUNDREDS of North Kildonan residents who oppose the erection of a cellphone tower in a nearby cemetery will have another cross to bear.

When completed, the 30-metre tower at the edge of Saint Mary’s Cemetery on McIvor Avenue will be covered with metal to look like a cross.

“It’s a real slap in the face,” said Deanna Fair, a mother of two young children who worries about the long-term effect of living metres away from a cellphone tower.

“I cannot believe it. It could have gone in the middle of the cemetery, but instead it has been put right behind residential houses. We have concerns. Our children sleep here at night.”

Fair, who had organized opposition to it, including a petition signed by hundreds of people, said her family is looking for a new house.

She said while drawings provided to the residents by Bell MTS showed the cellphone tower going up where it is, telephone company employees told them verbally it would be erected on the other side of the grove of trees that separates grave sites from the houses.

“They didn’t do that,” she said. “Instead, they cut down a path of trees and put it right behind a house with three children.

“I know we carry around cellphones and blue tooth, but I know long-term exposure is not safe. Now, we all look out our back windows and can see an antenna.”

Father Bob Kay, of the St. Mary’s Parish Polish National Catholic Church on Burrows Avenue, which owns the cemetery, wouldn’t say whether it was the congregation or Bell MTS that came up with the idea to make the tower look like a cross.

Kay wouldn’t say how much Bell MTS will pay the congregation to allow the tower on its land.

“I’m sure there are still people who don’t want it there, but we got approvals,” he said.

Kay said he’s uncertain about the age of the cemetery, but it pre-dates all of the surrounding houses.

“When it opened, it was just farm fields around,” he said. “The cemetery was there long before the houses around it.”

Morgan Shipley, a senior communications manager at Bell MTS, said the tower will enhance cellphone services “which many residents have been demanding for some time.”

Shipley said the company met or exceeded all of the requirements to erect the tower and there were extensive public consultations.

“To respect the surrounding residential area, Bell MTS is installing a tripole design with a cross intended to blend in with the surrounding area,” she said. “The McIvor site is estimated to be in service later this fall.”

Jeff Browaty, the city councillor for the area, said the approvals process for a new cellphone tower is bureaucratic, not political.

“Politicians are not consulted in any way,” Browaty said. “The towers are looked at under the land-use policy. They cannot recommend against it based on impact on cellular radio waves. That’s not a reason for municipalities to reject it.”

As for the shrouding over the cell tower, which will make it look like a cross, Browaty said: “they are making it as respectful as possible.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca