Efforts are underway to install a 51-metre cell tower and wireless communications facility that will provide cell phone and Internet service to Skookumchuck Narrows and the Egmont waterfront.
The proposal cleared another hurtle on Thursday when Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors voted to support the Telus application to construct the facility on an island at Cawley Point in Sechelt Inlet.
“The intent of this tower is to actually service the Dorston and the Egmont waterfront area as well as provide service up the Narrows Inlet,” said Area A director Leonard Lee at the May 14 planning committee meeting.
“It’s been asked for by the community for years now. This is important to them and it’s also an important safety issue for the users of the Skookumchuck Park.”
The directors’ support comes with the conditions that Telus keeps “substantially” to the design plans and that it completes archeological impact and environmental assessments prior to construction.
A letter from Telus to the SCRD indicates the facility “will improve wireless services to residents, marine traffic and tourists along Sechelt Inlet including a portion of Narrows Inlet, the Skookumchuck Narrows and adjacent lands.”
A May 14 SCRD staff report states “improved communications capacity in the area is a benefit to E911 service, Search and Rescue and other emergency response organizations.”
Telecommunications facilities are approved by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and applicants must consult with local governments and the public as part of that process.
During discussion, Area F director Mark Hiltz said he supported the tower, but had hoped Salmon Inlet would also be included in the service area and that he had a “little bit of a problem” with how Telus appeared to confuse federal public consultation requirements with SCRD requirements. He also asked why face-to-face public consultation didn’t happen.
Because the location for the tower is remote and there are few residential properties in the area, Telus decided against meeting in person and instead mailed notifications to residents, and put an ad in the paper, said senior planner Yuli Siao.
Telus completed that consultation earlier this year and the Halfmoon Bay Advisory Planning Commission also reviewed the application.
Hiltz made a motion, which directors approved, that the SCRD send a letter to Telus to consider extending cellular coverage to Salmon Inlet in the company’s future plans.
While the facility will be primarily powered by diesel fuel, it’s also using solar panels.
Sound was raised as an issue by at least one respondent and Telus indicated “sound-dampening materials” would be placed in the generator enclosure.
Earlier this year, a Telus foundation purchased property at Cawley Point to develop the land into a youth camp.
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