The recent editorial concerning keeping “the public in the loop” as regards to decisions and information is an interesting one in the light of a number of letters complaining of in-camera council meetings.
As the present council recently approved the construction of a cell tower by Rodman Ave. at an in-camera meeting that itself was brought forward from an open evening meeting to the afternoon, myself and others can be forgiven for harbouring suspicions as to the motive for such a move.
Rightly or wrongly, it would appear that a decision had already been made by someone on council that the public needed to be kept out. The approval for the tower had previously been put on hold by the last council.
As the tower will only be a short distance from our house and others, we sent a petition to Industry Canada and I myself compiled a package of information from scientists, a British doctor whose research into the deaths of a large number of people from cancer led to the removal of a tower, and a report done by a provincial government in Austria which also showed a correlation between cell tower radiation and breast and brain cancer which was sent to every councillor member and Mayor.
Except for a chance encounter with one councillor, only Industry Canada bothered to reply. I can only assume they were genuinely not interested or else they were advised to keep quiet.
As well as any danger that the radiation may cause the value of our properties is also under threat.
I realize that some people do not wish to pay for both a land line and cell phone access as we do, but neither do we wish to lose many thousands of dollars on the value of our property.
We do use a cell phone, but if for whatever reason there is no coverage, such as objections by local residents to the erection of a tower, it is not a problem. We would prefer not to harm others just for our convenience.
Ron Metcalf
Mission