Orono Planning Board to hold public hearing over Verizon Wireless cell tower proposal

ORONO, Maine — The Orono Planning Board will hold a public hearing later this month on a proposal from Verizon Wireless to install eight cell tower antennas in the steeple of the Orono United Methodist Church on Oak Street. 

The company intends to address a significant coverage gap in Orono with the towers, according to its application submitted on April 21. 

“With increasing use of wireless data, Verizon’s goal is to provide exceptional wireless communications coverage in Orono by investing in wireless infrastructure for the town and surrounding area,” the application said. 

The company proposes setting up ground equipment behind the church that will support the antennas. 

Besides expanding coverage, it’s not clear if Verizon intends to use the antennas for 5G purposes, although that possibility has troubled some citizens in recent weeks. 

“5G is new technology and it’s something that our children, our residents are going to be exposed to constantly and we don’t know what the outcome will be,” said Orono resident Sarah Kenney, who started a Facebook group in mid-May to make the community aware of Verizon’s proposal. 

“I’m just afraid if this comes in, and we haven’t done our homework, we can’t turn back,” she said. 

Fights over the introduction and use of 5G in municipalities have been brewing in recent years across the United States as people raise concerns over the impact of cell towers in their neighborhoods and potential hazards of radiation exposure to public health.  

The maximum permissible exposure level of radiofrequency for cellular and cell site transmitters to the general public is 580 microwatts per square centimeter, according to  the Federal Communications Commission. 

It says this limit is “many times greater than RF [Radio Frequency] levels typically found near the base of cellular or cell site towers or in the vicinity of other, lower-powered cell site transmitters.”

“An individual would essentially have to remain in the main transmitting beam and within a few feet of the antenna for several minutes or longer. Thus, the possibility that a member of the general public could be exposed to RF levels in excess of the FCC guidelines is extremely remote,” it concluded. 

Stephen Delsonno of Structure Consulting Group, who submitted the application to the Orono Planning Board on behalf of Verizon Wireless, said he couldn’t discuss the matter and instead referred questions to the company’s law firm, Verrill Dana. 

A representative from Verrill Dana involved in the issue could not be reached in time to comment. 

After the planning board sent out a public notice of the proposal to residents who lived around the church, between 15 and 20 people responded with concerns about the issue, according to Kyle Drexler, the town’s planner. 

The board had also planned to discuss the proposal during its May 20 meeting, but pushed it to June at the applicant’s request — partly because of public concern, Drexler said. 

The planning board is expected to bring up the issue when it meets on June 17, and the board will make its decision based on the town’s ordinances, he added. 

People can submit questions or concerns to Drexler to be shared at the meeting, or send in their comments to the board via Facebook, where the meeting will be shared live.

The United Methodist Church did not respond to a request for comments on this story.