Western Springs Gets 5G Tower Application

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Western Springs has received an application for the type of small cellphone towers that many residents in both the village and neighboring Hinsdale oppose. Officials say they have rejected the application.

"It was an incomplete application. It won't be processed. It won't be moving forward," village attorney Michael Jurusik said at Monday's village board meeting. "We'll keep you posted when there are complete applications."

As of Wednesday, Hinsdale has not received an application.

Jurusik and other village officials shed some light on the issue after residents asked questions during the public input portion of the meeting.

Residents say Hinsdale and Western Springs are among the towns being targeted for 5G towers, which are for the next generation of cellphone technology. They fear the health effects of the towers' microwave radiation. Some see them as unsightly.

Opponents of the towers have created a Facebook page called "Stop 5G Hinsdale & Neighbors." And Hinsdale and Western Springs have devoted sections of their websites on the issue.

At Monday's Western Springs meeting, resident Pam Conlon asked village officials about whether they knew the number of towers being planned for Western Springs. They said they did not.

She also inquired about whether the village would hire a lobbyist to push for greater local control of 5G towers, as Hinsdale has done. She was told the village has not discussed that possibility.

Last week, the Hinsdale board hired former Rep. Chris Nybo, R-Elmhurst, as a lobbyist whose duties will include pushing for local control of 5G towers.

Last month, Hinsdale Village President Tom Cauley wrote a letter to state Rep. Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park, who sponsored a bill dealing with small cellphone towers. He asked her to amend it to give regulatory powers to municipalities.

"Local municipalities cannot do their jobs effectively if they are essentially handcuffed by state law from policing the installation of 5G equipment," Cauley said.

In October, Western Springs Village President Alice Gallagher wrote a letter to lawmakers, saying her village seeks local authority on the deployment of 5G equipment.

"Understandably, many of our residents worry that the increase of radio frequency emissions will negatively impact public health," she said in the letter. "We have done some research on our end to identify potential risks, but have not found reliable data that answers the specific questions."

According to the village, Gallagher, two village trustees and the village manager recently traveled to a regional conference in Washington to reiterate concerns about 5G to federal representatives.