A proposal to bring better cell phone service to hundreds of Glen Ellyn residents was stymied last week when opponents brought forth a 16-year-old village ordinance that they say bars the project.

Glen Ellyn officials are considering a deal with T-Mobile that would allow the wireless company to install cellular antennas on top of a water tower on Cottage Avenue near downtown, bringing better reception to T-Mobile users in the valley of downtown Glen Ellyn.

But some residents living near the water tower, citing their concerns about potential harm to both health and property value, reminded Village Board members during a workshop meeting July 16 that when plans for the water tower were first laid out in 1991, the board said that “antennas on the new tower are to be kept at a minimum.”

As a result, the board tabled the proposal until its Monday, Aug. 20, workshop meeting, at which time trustees will parse through the concise, yet nonspecific, statement to determine exactly what “minimum” means.

The residents who pointed out the ordinance, however, are quite sure that it prevents the board from pursuing the agreement with T-Mobile.

“The intent was not to have any antenna up there,” Cottage Avenue resident Forrest Dean said before the board. “Maybe shame on us for not naming a number.”

This was the first time the ordinance, officially named Ordinance 3810, was brought before the current trustees, and most said they wanted to review minutes and notes from the 1991 discussions to determine as best they can what the board at that time meant with its wording. Trustee Peter Norton, who lives on Cottage Avenue near the tower, recused himself from discussions.

Trustee Sara Lee, however, offered criticism of the statement’s wording, adding that she does not “ever plan to pass an ordinance that has such an ambiguous wording in it.”

Given the vague wording and considering that in 1991 cell phone technology was in its early stages, Lee said she doubts how definitive of an interpretation she can make.
“There is no number equated with the word ‘minimum’ in the dictionary,” she said.

Chuck Chefjec, one of two residents who brought the ordinance to the board’s attention, said he was concerned that Lee’s statements meant she might advocate disregarding the ordinance.

“The ordinances, they’re not just binding on the residents, they’re binding on the board,” said Chefjec, a lawyer. “You can’t just look the other way and decide you’re going to sort of arbitrarily choose the ordinances you want to honor.”

Chefjec admitted that the ordinance was vague, but he said that sometimes legislation is purposefully drafted to be open to interpretation.

“You need to be able to apply the facts and circumstances on a case-by-case basis so you can allow yourself some leeway,” he said. “You don’t need to look any further than the first 10 amendments of the Constitution.”

The residents have long since opposed the addition of cell phone antennas to the water tower — which received a similarly chilly reception from neighbors when it replaced a century-old water tank in the early 1990s.

During public hearings this past year about cell towers, residents raised concerns about adverse effects on health, property value and emergency communication equipment already housed in the tower.

During last week’s workshop meeting, a T-Mobile representative offered evidence to assuage the concerns. The signals produced by the new antenna would be 1,000 times below the federal threshold, he told the board, and emergency response would actually be enhanced because the towers could be used to pinpoint electronically the location of 911 calls.

Also, the effects on property would be negligible, he said, citing a report from a real estate appraisal agent. Residents have refuted this claim based on appraisals they say they have received from local agents.

The details of the proposed lease with T-Mobile have not yet been worked out, but the village of Glen Ellyn already has an agreement with another wireless company that yields $24,000 annually.

In 1999, the village agreed to a 14-year lease with AT&T Wireless Services (now New Cingular Wireless Services) that allows for antennas on the base of the tower below the water tank.