Area residents will have an extra 14 days to respond with their feedback on a proposed 65-metre tall cell tower for 14 Crescent Street in Sackville.
Tantramar mayor Andrew Black says he spoke to the agency receiving the feedback on behalf of Rogers, and was told there is a 14 day ‘grace period’ extended beyond the February 26 deadline, meaning the new deadline is March 12, 2025.
In a post on social media, Black said he was told the agency had received 17 letters of complaint regarding the location of the tower, next to the naturalized stormwater retention pond. Black also said that he is “not opposed to the tower itself,” and noted the positive impacts to the community in terms of expansion of service. The issue, he said, is the location proposed.
On Monday at a Tantramar council committee of the whole meeting, Black said he had received 50 calls from concerned residents, and asked council colleagues for their informal support of a letter to Rogers Communications expressing “firm opposition” to the proposed tower.
The 65-metre tall tower is proposed for construction on a property owned by Sackville resident Percy Best, across from Armtec pipe supply, and right next to an FRS Flooring warehouse on Crescent Street.
Black says his opposition to the tower is based on the aesthetic impact of the tower on the neighbouring naturalized retention pond system, but also on health and safety concerns of nearby residents.
“There is the aesthetic piece,” Black told CHMA on Tuesday, “but the people who live close by have problems with the frequencies that come out of the tower, rightly or wrongly, have health concerns of having the tower close by to their residences.” Black said some residents expressed concern over the proximity of the proposed tower to baseball fields on Lorne Street and Marshview Middle School.
Black says the Rogers notification letter shared with the municipality did not include any information on health and safety protocols.
A Health Canada website says that the agency’s Safety Code 6 regulates wireless communication equipment such as cell phones and cell towers to make sure they stay below certain limits of human exposure.
“Based on current scientific data,” reads the site, “we have concluded that you will not experience adverse health effects from exposure to radiofrequency EMFs at the levels permitted by Safety Code 6.”
Rogers first advertised their proposed tower with a print ad in the Times and Transcript on January 8, about a week before Black first heard of the proposal, when a nearby resident came to town hall wondering with a letter detailing the Rogers proposal.
“At that point, we hadn’t received anything from Rogers at all,” says Black. But then later that day, councillors received a copy from the letter.
According to federal cell tower siting guidelines, local municipalities must be consulted about and approve of a tower location, though Black says he was not made aware of those guidelines through communications from Rogers, and as far as he was aware, the invitation to send in feedback in January was “the only process that I that I’ve seen and that the municipality has been involved in.” He also says he’s not sure when Plan 360, a department of the South East Regional Service Commission which handles planning and development applications for Tantramar, was made aware.
Black’s letter encourages Rogers to reconsider the location of the tower, and also to hold a public meeting to hear from residents. He says in hindsight, Tantramar council could have hosted such a meeting at the municipal level. “In the end, the information that would come out of that would be something that Rogers would have to hear,” says Black. “I think it would be better for Rogers to hear from people directly through the process that they laid out, only because then it would, it would create some kind of a file on Rogers end of issues of concern.”
“This did come together fairly quickly,” says Black. “It was only within the last week and a half where I thought, well, you know, we really should do something about this, because the outcry seemed to be escalating.”
Black says he is expecting a reply from Rogers to his letter, and will update the community when he hears back.
The mayor says he will be enquiring about potential adjustments Rogers can make to ensure the tower fits in visually on Crescent Street.
Black also acknowledged the push to increase cell service coverage throughout the province. “I’m not going to take away from the fact that there’s an important aspect to putting up cell phone and telecommunication structures in the municipality,” says Black. “I don’t think Rogers would be putting it in if they didn’t feel that there was a need for cell phone coverage.”
Black says he often drives by another cell tower in Sackville, on Hesler Drive near the water tower. “The community has grown up around it, which is a different thing altogether,” says Black, referring to existing residential areas around the proposed site on Crescent. The tower on Hesler is “sort of part of the landscape,” says Black. “And that leads me to think about what this one will be… In 10 years, will people kind of forget about it and it will just be part of the landscape?”
“But if there’s something that the municipality could potentially do now in response to citizen concerns, then I think that’s something that we need to do,” says Black.
Earlier this month, Rogers shared a statement on the project with CHMA. The company says it is “looking to enhance our network in Sackville to provide more seamless coverage for residents, businesses and emergency responders. We work closely with the local community to ensure our services, equipment and design meet their needs.”
Members of the public can provide feedback to Rogers about the siting through an agent, Scott Telecom Services, with contact information available below. The deadline for feedback now March 12, 2025.
Tower Installation Project / Projet d’installation de communication sans fil
Reference: A1417 Mount Allison University
Scott Telecom Services Ltd.
Agent for Rogers Communications Inc.
Michele Klein, Municipal Planner
900, 202 – 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2P 2R9
Phone: (403) 261-6514
Fax: (403) 263-5263
Email: notify@scottland.ca
