Around 25 people gathered at the Ormstown town hall on June 10 to attend a public information session regarding a contentious project to install a 36-metre communications tower on municipal land.
The meeting was requested by Mayor Philippe Besombes and the municipal council to allow citizens to learn more about the proposed Bell Mobility tower, and to express their concerns directly to project representatives. Those in attendance included Chantal Desjardins, a senior manager with Bell, and Robert Minotti, the president of Romin Acquisition, a Laval-based consulting firm focused on improving wireless networks.
The discussion was about the process as well as the rationale for installing the relay tower, while citizens raised concerns over zoning and potential environmental and health impacts.
According to Desjardins and Minotti, there is an urgent need to improve both the cellular network coverage and capacity due to the growing reliance on cell phones and the phasing out of landlines. Ormstown is currently underserved in terms of both coverage and capacity, which leads to dropped calls, difficulty in getting a signal, and delays in calls and data transfer due to an overloaded network.
The Ormstown council passed a resolution in March to allow the municipality to enter talks with Bell Mobility after the company reached out to address the connection issues. After the municipal water tower was assessed as structurally unsuitable by an engineering firm, several other sites were proposed on both municipal and private property. Of these, a lot owned by the municipality located near Route 138, east of Route 201, was identified as the best-positioned site to ensure optimal coverage.
The tower will require a footprint of approximately 13 by 15 metres, including an equipment shed and a protective fence. The structure will support LTE and 5G technologies and will accommodate Bell and Telus, which operate jointly, as well as an additional provider such as Rogers or Vidéotron.
When challenged by citizens concerned about the placement of the tower, Minotti explained that it is extremely difficult to find an ideal site for residents. “What we can’t do is hide the tower. We have to put it somewhere to provide the service,” he said.
“We truly believe we have found the best location. It is good for coverage. It is good for citizens, and it is good for public safety services,” Minotti added, confirming that they worked collaboratively with the municipality to find a spot that ticks as many boxes as possible.
“For us, it was important to hear the concerns, and to have all the questions and answers before deciding what we are going to do,” said Besombes, while Minotti confirmed that the project was still in its early stages and that nothing has been signed.
According to Desjardins, this type of project can take up to three years to complete. She noted that if all went well, the tower could be completed and connected to the network by 2027 at the earliest.
Citizens may submit any questions to the project team by email before June 19 at bell_E3640@cpc-consultation.ca