Verizon Wireless holds open house for proposed cell tower

Amidst concern and opposition about a proposed cell tower in Alameda Park, Verizon Wireless invited the community to an open house Tuesday to listen to peoples’ concerns first-hand.

The telecommunications company initially pitched the cell tower to the city in November. The company would build a 105-foot tower resembling a pine tree near the park’s bathrooms. It would also install a couple HVAC units nearby to keep the tower cool.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about how these communication facilities get developed and put together and how they impact the community,” said Brandon Kaiser, a Verizon real estate specialist. “By holding this meeting proactively we can answer some of these questions.”

At the open house Verizon showed the latest renderings for the project. Pocatello resident Lee Kinney said he could see the tower not being a problem, but still had his reservations.

“If they say it’ll be more effective then I think everybody probably would get used to it after a time,” Kinney said. “Something like that, though, I don’t know if it belongs in a park.”

Monte Rasmussen is still gathering signatures for his petition against the tower. While he said Verizon was able to address some concerns, he worries if the tower comes to be there could be more to follow.

“If you’ve already got two three-ton units running off and on 24 hours a day– I don’t think you want anymore,” Rasmussen said.

There was a change from the original plan. The HVAC units will now be housed in a structure similar to the already bathroom building, Verizon said the city requested that change.

Verizon said an application for the tower will be filed within the next week or so. From there it’ll be presented to the Pocatello City Council for approval.