The placement of 5G towers in Fishers neighborhoods is becoming a contentious issue, with Mayor Scott Fadness saying at a recent meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety that the entire issue could be decided by the courts.

The November 4th board meeting had a list of requests for Verizon 5G towers in Fishers neighborhoods.  The process was paused during the pandemic, but has resumed in recent months.

It came to a head when residents of the Glen Abbey area of the Windermere subdivision made it clear to the board they want no 5G towers of any kind in their neighborhood.

The three member board, consisting of the mayor and his two appointees, have been dealing with neighborhoods coming to an agreement with Verizon on the placement of these towers.  In some situations, Verizon says it cannot provide service coverage in a given area without the placement of a tower in a specific place, for technical reasons.

During the November 4th session, the board:

–Approved 3 tower locations in Harrison Lakes and tabled 1 proposed location, allowing time for the neighborhood to find a solution with Verizon.

–Approved all 3 locations in Princeton Park.

–Approved 2 locations in Weaver Creek and allowing time for talks on 1 placement.

–In Weaver Woods, 1 location was approved.

When the Glen Abbey in Windermere locations were up for a vote, several residents in that area were clear that the only acceptable solution was no towers.

Mayor Fadness provided some historical context about his lobbying efforts on this issue at the Statehouse starting 7 years ago when the 5G tower issue first surfaced.  According to Fadness, the telecommunications industry pushed hard for no local government involvement, but the cities and towns were able to gain provisions in state law allowing some limited local government involvement.

Verizon has warned the city in at least two public Board of Works meetings that Fishers may already be exceeding its legal authority in considering these tower placement requests.

Verizon is entering the Fishers market for 5G service because of the quality of this community as consumers of technology in a relatively affluent area, according to the mayor. Fadness wants to give the public a voice in these 5G tower decisions, but the city is required to follow state and federal law at the same time.

The board tabled all the proposed 5G towers in the Glen Abbey area, allowing attorneys for the city, the neighborhood and Verizon to come to some sort of understanding about how these requests should be considered by the Board of Works.  The mayor is asking the lawyers to “come to some determination as to what is considered and what is not considered in our (board of works) decisions.”

Fadness conceded this may end up with attorneys “arguing with each other” and not reaching any understanding.  If that is the result, judges may become involved.

“If that’s the case, then (the city) will have to make a decision from a public policy perspective,” Fadness said. “That could end up in a court of law.”