City council approves new Verizon tower

City OKs tower after sparks fly in council meeting

By DON WILBURN

donaldfwilburn@gmail.com

The West Memphis City Council heard heated debates, for the third time, on the installation of a new cell tower near Kuhn Road by representatives from Verizon arguing for and SBA Communications arguing against the tower. In what may have been a weird coincidence, on the same day all users in Crittenden County of AT& T and related carriers experienced a complete blackout of cell service while users of Verizon reported no such outages.

“We do not install these towers willy-nilly,” said Verizon representative Greg Ferris, “Each tower costs between 300 and 500 thousand dollars. We install them where we need them. SBA Communications is not taking into consideration future growth and customer needs.”

Ferris went on to discuss coverage maps and gaps in Verizon service in the nearby area.

The complete opposite was the basis for SBA Communications argument, represented by Michael Harris, was that coverage was not necessary and that extending the height of the existing tower would accomplish the same thing, that there was no gap in coverage and that there are no current residents who live in the area who need service. Harris also argued that by the time the area was populated technology will have

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progressed to the point that even a new tower will be obsolete by then. Harris also mentioned that there are currently three towers in the area where Verizon intends to build theirs which are owned by SBA, Crown and Phoenix Communications respectively. Harris made no justification as to why those towers were necessary despite citing reasons as to why a fourth, by a competitor, was not.

During questioning by several city council members and before their vote, the debate among the representatives culminated with each of the representatives accusing the other of being disingenuous with Harris saying “Do not put words into my mouth” and Ferris asking to not be interrupted while speaking.

The Mayor then called a vote with councilors Harris, Hutchinson and Muhammed passing, Councilman Bruce voting no and Councilors Holt, Croom, Catt, Monday, Murray and Wheeless all voting to pass the measure, which with a six to one vote, it did.

No construction date on the 124ft tower has of yet been set.