Several acreage owners in the RM of Aberdeen northeast of Saskatoon are objecting to SaskTel’s installation of a 76.2 meter (250 foot) tall macro cell tower a short distance from their properties.
They say the tower is too close to the Meadows Estates and Bergheim Estates country residential neighbourhoods and will mar the natural beauty of the area.
But, with excavation work on the tower already begun; and with the necessary approvals already in place from the municipal, provincial and federal governments; the tower is likely to be completed by this spring and in operation by summer.
The tower is one of 74 macro cell towers being installed in “under-served” rural and remote communities across Saskatchewan, according to a news release issued by SaskTel in September, 2020. The towers are part of the crown corporation’s ‘Wireless Saskatchewan’ initiative, begun in 2017, to meet the growing demand for wireless voice and data communication services province-wide.
“This area falls in the fringe coverage category for existing cell sites in the area,” said SaskTel External Communications Manager Greg Jacobs in an interview February 24. “Residents or travellers would experience fair to poor coverage as they move through the area, and this cell tower will take that to solid coverage.”
Jacobs said one of the primary reasons for locating the cell tower in this particular area is to fill a gap in coverage along the Highway 41 corridor between Aberdeen and Saskatoon. He said the crown corporation has been working for the past two years to select a suitable site. The owner of the land selected must also be willing to sell, said Jacobs. The site chosen by SaskTel meets both criteria.
But Joy-Ann Allin, a homeowner in the Meadows Estates neighbourhood, said the site is “the worst possible tower location” for residents of the immediate area.
“It’s too close to homes,” said Allin in an interview February 23. “We all understand the need for cell towers and improved service. We know that’s going to happen.
“But this tower is the height of a 23-storey building.
“We feel there really wasn’t any meaningful consultation or communication with people who will be directly impacted. There are about 60 homes on five-acre lots in the area, and all the windows and decks are oriented in a northwest direction to take advantage of the incomparable view of the valley at sunset. It will be marred by this huge tower.”
Allin said landowners have invested significant resources into their homes and land and want to preserve the “open, peaceful, natural country setting filled with wildife, starry skies and beauty.”
Allin said there is other land for sale in the area that would meet SaskTel’s requirements. She said the immediate area, because of its close proximity to Saskatoon, is already well-served by existing wireless coverage.
“We have no complaints about cell service here,” she said, adding the tower should be relocated “further out” from the city.
Jacobs said SaskTel strives to balance community needs and potential land use constraints with its service improvement goals during the site selection process.
He said the location of cell towers is regulated by the federal government, and all telecommunications network operators must follow several steps, including advertising the proposal, consultations with local governments and notification of landowners within a specified distance of the proposed location. In the case of this tower,, the radius for determining residents to be notified is defined as three times the height of the tower, which in this case is 230 meters (250 yards).
SaskTel’s initial notice of the proposed cell tower location was published in early fall, 2020. Allin said she was made aware of it by a neighbour whose property is closest to the tower site.
She said residents have contacted SaskTel officials, their MLA Bronwyn Eyre, and Don Morgan, the Minister responsible for SaskTel. They have submitted a petition to the Minister and also reached out to NDP MLAs. She said they feel frustrated.
“We’re running out of options,” she said. “We had hoped to have a two-way dialogue and find a common-sense solution that works for both the Crown and homeowners. We’re looking for common ground, but there hasn’t been any movement.”
The RM of Aberdeen council expressed its opposition to the proposed tower site by passing resolutions to that effect at two separate meetings last fall. However, the province later ruled construction could proceed.
The site of the tower is currently zoned to allow construction of communications infrastructure such as cell towers.
In a media statement issued February 23, RM of Aberdeen officials stated:
“In September and in November, 2020, Council for the RM of Aberdeen No. 373 declared its opposition to the proposed subdivision application required to permit construction of a wireless communications tower adjacent to the Meadows, due to the proximity of the proposed tower to existing residential subdivisions.
“As with all rural municipalities in Saskatchewan, the RM of Aberdeen is not, however, the approving authority for such applications, that power being held by the Ministry of Governments Relations – Community Planning Branch. In December of 2020, the RM of Aberdeen was informed that approval had been grated. Consideration was given to appealing the decision, however, it was determined that an appeal was unlikely to succeed, given that the proposed use of the land was a permitted use under the zoning bylaw.”