Letter: Stop Construction of Pittsfield Cell Tower

To the Editor:

Tuesday night, like so many others who have concerns about the cell tower permitting process, I called into the open comment portion of the City Council meeting to state them.

While four people were able to comment, there were at least another 10 of us on the line, trying, but unable to speak. When my number was called and I was told to unmute, I quickly tried. As soon as I unmuted, it said, "You are now muted by the host." Multiple speakers had the same experience. It felt deliberate. It felt like we were being silenced, as we have been from the very beginning of this.

We reached out to the mayor, the City Council, Community Development and the Zoning Board as soon as we discovered it was a cell tower being constructed with no abutter or community awareness. We asked them to please stop this project until after the initial crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic passed so we could have discussions. Now, even at the meeting nearly five months later, we go unheard.

Our voices have fallen on deaf ears, and continue to do so. We have been ignored, disregarded and made to feel less than. We did not receive any information in 2017 about the cell tower and that continues to this day with the city ignoring simple questions about when the tower will be turned on.

It is wrong that Verizon continues work despite the permit being litigated and a pending injunction ruling in Berkshire Superior Court. It is especially wrong that the city has failed to intervene despite the united voices of our blindsided community. It is wrong for there to be no notification to abutters and a deceptive street address so far away from the actual construction site that no road existed to connect the two.

Charlie Herzig
Pittsfield, Mass.

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