Tower to go up on east side
JANESVILLE — The Janesville Plan Commission on Monday approved a US Cellular communications tower at St. Mark Lutheran Church, with some residents speaking in favor of the tower as a way to improve cell phone reception on the east side.
Others, though, complained that the tower would be an unsightly addition to the residential area, with one man calling the tower "visual pollution."
Two council members on the plan commission, Tom McDonald and Kathy Voskuil, voted against approving the tower, saying the company should pursue other technical solutions.
The church is at 2921 Mount Zion Ave. The tower will look like a 120-foot flagpole.
The company has said it needs the tower because call volumes on the east side of town exceed the network's capacity. The problem will get worse with the introduction of services such as streaming video.
McDonald said this morning that it shouldn't be the city shouldn't allow a cell phone company to just keep "throwing up towers whenever a cell company decides they need more towers.
"I think that we have a real problem in this country with all these cell companies just putting more towers everywhere rather than working on their technology and improving their technology," McDonald said.
"We as a country are light years behind European technology. When we put up new towers like this, that just encourages these companies to keep doing what they're doing.
"I don't think too many of us would want these towers right in their backyard."
The vote was four to two, with Steve Werner, Meredith Helgerson, Anda O'Connell and Nancy Zolidis voting to approve the tower. Lori Hanewold was absent.
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Mar 7, 2009 at 9:06 a.m.
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I thought this was suppose to be investigated by city staff before the board votes. City should investigate single multi use tower that city would receive rental income.
Mar 4, 2009 at 9:24 a.m.
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Blimps? Blimps would be cool. I like saying Blimp, too.
"I don't think too many of us would want these towers right in their backyard."
Oh yes I would. A 120' flag pole would rock! I better call US Cellular to see if they need one near me. There's power, cable, and phones boxes here for their convenience, too.
Mar 3, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
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Actually, McDonald is correct.... maybe not on the "light years" comment but there are other technologies that reduce the need for towers and blimps. This link speaks to that technology that has been tested in several areas:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/4763...
Mar 3, 2009 at 12:21 p.m.
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I would also add that in Europe, there are regulations requiring a certain level of service. To achieve those service levels require far more cell phone antennas than you will see in the US.
Mar 3, 2009 at 11:53 a.m.
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I appreciate the position of Voskuil and McDonald, but I'm not sure what technology he's referring to that we are "light years behind". It's either cell towers, or satellite phones. Possibly in the near future we could start seeing high-altitude airships replacing land-based cell towers but there are obvious obstacles.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/...
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll...
Mar 3, 2009 at 11:37 a.m.
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I also agree with Tom McDonald and Kathy Voskuil for their votes against approving the tower. By approving installations like this we are allowing the cell phone companies to take the easy way out.
Further, "The company has said it needs the tower because call volumes on the east side of town exceed the network's capacity. The problem will get worse with the introduction of services such as streaming video."
The newer technology McDonald refers to facilitates higher bandwidth to address features such as video streaming.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/4763...
Mar 3, 2009 at 11:22 a.m.
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Thank you, McDonald and Voskuil for working to move Janesville into the future rationally without repeating mistakes of the past that adversely impact residential neighborhoods.
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