The Marshall County Commissioners met in emergency session on Friday afternoon to put a resolution in place to restrict the placement or construction of small cell towers in the right-of-way of local governments where utility lines are located or buried underground.
Several municipalities scrambled to get similar documents approved and in place by the May 1 deadline to keep local government control over Senate Enrolled Act 213 which allows that local control option. SEA 213 amends Indiana code that allows the use of the county’s right-of-way for the installation and use of small cell facilities.
Marshall County Planning Director Ralph Booker notified the commissioners of this legislation change late last week which led to the emergency meeting. Booker explained that the reason for the change is a pending upgrade in available bandwidth.
“This is in anticipation of the roll-out of 5G in 2020,” said Booker. “Basically, what they want to do it put these wireless communicators on any existing utility poles and churches – anything that’s high. This is for towers 50 feet or less.”
During the commissioner’s regular public business meeting on Monday morning, the commissioners unanimously approved a motion to ratify the resolution that was passed on Friday during the emergency meeting.
