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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, December 21, 2011 · 4 Health concerns as tower use goes commercial Continued from page 1 were no legal barriers. Cockburn disagreed with the proposal, opposing it for a number of reasons during her delegation to council. "I had inquired about the telecommunications tower at Fire Station #1 when we purchased our home seven years ago. I was informed it was for the sole purpose of emergency response communications. I was resigned to the fact that the telecommunications tower was a necessity to our community, however, the six Bell antennas that have recently been installed will be transmitting for both emergency response and commercial use," she said. "Transmission, therefore, will be constant. Electro-magnetic radiation will be emitted from these towers. It is harmful to humans and especially to children. This is a case of `not in my backyard', but for good reason. My concern is for the health and safety of my family, my neighbours, the daycare located below the tower and the firefighters at Fire Station #1 who sleep directly below the tower." Cockburn called for the cell tower to be moved at least 500 metres from residential areas. Local Realtor Brian Bell, who lives even closer to the tower, argued the commercial use of the tower would drastically reduce property values in the area stating his own ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER RAISING FLAGS: Some west-end residents are upset about a plan for Bell to use what has been since 1996, an emergency-related cell tower at Rebecca Street and Bronte Road. property could decrease in value by $100,000. The health issue, which continues to hang over cell towers, was also something, Bell said, he was deeply concerned about. "There is a safety concern. Any one of us could Google and see what the concern is around this. There are hundreds and hundreds and thousands of web pages on this topic," he said. "I am definitely concerned, not only for me, but also for my family members and the people within the community. It is a major issue." Bell said he was discouraged only two delegations came out to oppose the commercial use of the cell tower, but said that was probably because no one knows about it as there has been no public consultation on the subject. Town staff pointed out that when an existing cell tower is being modified there is no requirement for anyone to hold a public consultation. "That, to me, does not seem right," said Bell, pointing out the recent local controversy, resident opposition and lawn sign campaign that ensued when Rogers proposed locating a cell tower at Third Line and Rebecca Street. In his delegation to council, Crowell said a huge safety issue would be created if the agreement, which would permit police to use the company Bell's Brookville cell tower, fell apart. "If the Brookville site is in jeopardy than our whole system is in jeopardy. I will tell you getting this system up and running is absolutely a public safety and an officer safety issue and it has been for a couple of years," said Crowell. "We have a lot of dead spots. (The existing system is) a system that has failed and failed far too quickly. We've had to bring our capital project forward four years because we have officers out there who See Town page 11