City council makes decision on cell tower in Alameda Park

“Save our park” was the big message at Pocatello’s city council meeting Thursday night. Many people turned out to hear the council’s decision regarding a new cell tower being built in Alameda Park.

Verizon Wireless announced the idea of building a tower back in November. Since then, several residents of the Alameda neighborhood and Pocatello have signed a petition opposing it. The petition had 854 signatures.

The proposed tower would be 110 feet tall and would be built to resemble a pine tree. It would also include two 3-ton HVAC units and a generator.

At the city council meeting Thursday night, several people lined up to voice their opposition and concerns to the council.

Many were worried about how it would look, how much noise the generator would make and how much it would detract from property values. But most importantly, people worried one of the few remaining community parks would be tarnished by an industrial tower.

After hearing both sides from the public and from a Verizon representative, the city council denied the proposal.

Those in attendance were happy with the decision.

“I’m very pleased with this,” said Gloria Howell. “It was a great meeting with the community pulling together and a strong sense of camaraderie. We had a common goal about preserving the park and I’m so glad that the mayor and the city council listened to the people.”

“I think that they were very responsive to the public,” said Lisa Smith, who has been a frequent visitor to the park for years. “I think that they listened and they took it into consideration and they made the right decision.

“I’m tickled pink with their decision,” said Monte Rasmussen, who started the petition against the tower. “I’m almost in Margaritaville.”

Verizon will now have to look at possibly building the tower on commercial or private property. The representative at the meeting said they will still try to find a location because they need a tower to meet the increasing demand on wireless services in the area. One location mentioned in the meeting was between the 500 and 700 block of Yellowstone, but Verizon said nothing official has been discussed.

Verizon said they will continue to serve its customers in the Pocatello area to the best of its abilities and will continue to work to improve the demand on wireless services .