Opinion: Concerns about proposed cell tower in East Whitefish

My husband and I are extremely concerned about the 5G cell phone tower proposed for 419 Missy Lane, Whitefish. In East Whitefish, people expect peace and tranquility, and the addition of a multi-hundred-foot tower would disturb the landscape. There are plenty of existing towers in the area that should suffice for attaching additional transmitters.  

Everyone appreciates cell phones, but towers should be limited to commercial areas where people go and leave—not near their homes where families live and children spend all of their time. They also should be non-obtrusive in the natural beauty that we as a community value here, and the proposed tower would be on a prominent point of the skyline east of town. 

Another concerning issue with this tower located near homes is the danger of non-ionizing radiation and radio waves.  Not everyone gets sick, but the US Government’s own NIH PubMed states of those near a base station antenna “73.9% of the population suffer radio frequency sickness, 76.9% cancer, and 75.0% have biochemical parameters.  Even animals and trees near base station antennas, that cannot be aware of their proximity, are affected.” (Balmori A Environ Res. 2022 Nov;214(Pt2):113851. Epub 2022 July14. PMID 35843283)  

It has been suggested that home property values near the proposed tower will decrease 6-40%. 

Please oppose this tower by contacting GSS, Inc, 3311 109th St, Urbandale, IA 50322 Ph: 515-331-2103 and Bridger Tower Corp, 1951 E 400 Rd, Lecompton, KS 66050. 

— Ann Reimer, Whitefish