Hinsdale Leader Defends Proposed Pact With 5G Firm

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale's leader said last week the village reached the best deal possible with a company that wants to install more than 100 5G antennas in town.

Along with Western Springs and Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale has negotiated a settlement with Houston-based Crown Castle, which works for Verizon.

Residents in the three towns have objected to the company's plans, citing what they say are the health effects of radio frequency emissions.

But at last week's Village Board meeting, Village President Tom Cauley advanced the argument of the three villages: The state and federal governments only allow towns to regulate the aesthetics and sites for such antennas, not their health effects.

He said Hinsdale and others have lobbied for more local power over the equipment, to no avail.

Crown Castle has warned the villages that it may sue if it is not allowed to install antennas.

In his comments, Cauley said Crown Castle originally wanted its antennas to go on new poles. Now, he said, it plans 138 antennas, with all but two going on existing poles.

Under the agreement, Cauley said, the firm would use the smallest equipment possible and hide its wiring.

"I truly, truly, truly think this is the best we can do from an aesthetics and location perspective," he said. "If they were to go to court and we weren't able to get an agreement with them, I think we would get little sympathy from a judge."

He said he realized members of the audience were prepared to "yell" at the village over the agreement.

"If you talk about health and safety, we'll smile and listen, but we'll tell you when you're done that we can't do anything to oppose this for health and safety reasons," he said. "We just can't. We can't. We can't. We can't."

During the meeting, Glen Ellyn resident Nancy Perlman, who has fought 5G antennas around the western suburbs, said the settlement would water down the village's ordinance and take residents' right away.

Cauley disagreed.

"It was more of a tradeoff than watering down," he said. "They agreed to just about every wireless facility on an existing pole. They didn't have to do that... They can't have exposed wires. This was a long, long negotiated process."

A woman who only gave her first name, Yanna, said during public comments that she doubted Cauley's assertions.

"Our children are going to be glowing in the dark. (The antennas) are going to be outside their schools, outside our homes," she said. "It's pretty sickening. We need some men to stand up and fight for this."

The Village Board plans to vote on the settlement at its meeting next Monday.