People living in part of northwest Waterloo are worried about a new cell phone tower that has been proposed in their neighbourhood.
While residents say they aren't necessarily against cell phones or the towers needed to provide service, they are concerned about the process involved in selecting the location of the new tower.
Provider Wind Mobile has selected a small piece of secluded land off Erbsville Road, believing it would be the perfect site for a 30 metre tower.
It is one of five towers they have proposed for the city, but the other four are all in industrial areas.
Eldon Muegge owns the plot of land, he says "They wanted to know if they could lease a piece of land for to put a tower up, that's how it started."
That was nearly a year ago, and the problem is, only six households were informed about the plan.
But just across the ravine, behind some bush, only a few hundred feet away, there is a subdivision of homes. People living there are concerned about the proposed tower's location.
Sharon Abel is among those who are worried, "We received a copy of a flyer that was sent to one of the six residents who received the flyer," she says.
That may be because the proposal is governed by federal laws, something the city has little influence over.
Waterloo Councillor Karen Scian says "We don't have authority over this application process at all, it's frustrating to us because we're used to a lot of public input in the City of Waterloo."
Abel says she's not against the towers, but the location is a concern. So she has mounted a campaign citing concerns about potential health hazards and the lack of community consultation.
"We don't want to be the guinea pigs of the cell companies," she says, "we're very concerned about the health issue, no one knows for sure about the effect of the radio waves."
A similar tower, around the same height, is located in a community plaza nearby, close to a school. But Scian says no one has voiced any concerns about it.
Meanwhile Muegge says he's simply leasing a small parcel of land for a tower that no one will pay attention to once it's there.
He says "It's not going to bother me a bit. It's not going to bother anybody."
