ExteNet, a telecommunications infrastructure company that has a contract with
A formal agreement between ExteNet and the city will be considered by commissioners next month and if approved, would allow the company to request permits for the nodes.
Multiple wireless carriers have reached out to the city during the past couple of years about installing the equipment, but city officials have expressed aesthetic concerns.
Those comments were reiterated by commissioners at a Monday workshop, with Vice Mayor
Cooper said she was concerned about the equipment on posts along the city’s “most highly prized roadways” of
“This is a lot of things in the right of way and we’re spending an absolute fortune to remove clutter from our right of way,” she said.
But the city’s attorneys said federal and state laws limit control of municipalities to regulating factors like aesthetics and electrical codes.
“What we’re not allowed to do is to keep them out of the right of way, period,” said city attorney
Cities like
“With all those people in the downtown area that are using their phones, congregated in that small of an area, it’s very critical to have this kind of technology down there,” he said.
Commissioner
Weaver also asked ExteNet officials to explain at the workshop that the radio frequencies emitted from 5G do not pose health risks.
Lovvorn said the Federal Communications Commission’s regulations address health and safety aspects of the technology.
“There’s lots of people out there that want to stir up trouble and make all kinds of wild accusations on social media forums, saying how small cell wireless is going to give cancer or cause two-headed babies,” he said, “but the bottom line is the federal government has very strict regulations that are always being reviewed and revised and we follow each and every one of them.”
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