City Council Subcommittee Heeds Residents Concerns

Donna Motta September 26, 2016 Comments Off on City Council Subcommittee Heeds Residents Concerns

The City Council Committee on Public Works and Transportation voted recently to table a request from Mobilitie, a California-based technology company to install 14 poles, some as tall as 120 feet, amid public concern of possible health risks and the negative aesthetics of the structures that would be built in various parts of Fall River.

Committee Chair Raymond Mitchell recommended tabling the issue until the committee could research resident concerns that the poles could pose health risks. Currently, there is a pending contract between the company and the city. In a second motion, the committee referred the matter to the administration, law department, and Board of Health before revisiting the order to install the poles.

It was the third time representatives from Mobilitie have been before City Councilors with a proposal to install the poles with mounted small cells meant to expand network coverage for wireless carriers.

The company is handling the site acquisition and installation of the cellular antenna systems for Sprint. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mobilitie is installing the small cell structures across the country.

Several residents have gone before the council with concerns about electromagnetic radiation from the small cells from the poles that are proposed to be located near their homes or businesses, including William Texeira of Elsbree Street who addressed the committee in opposition to the Mobilitie proposal.

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