U.S. Cellular released a statement to a potential picketing event of a cell phone tower the company wants to install at a church in Waukesha.

According to the company, several Waukesha neighbors plan to gather on Saturday at the Buen Samaritano United Methodist Church to object to a future placement of U.S. Cellular phone tower on the church’s property. 

Curtis Graham, U.S. Cellular Director of Regional Engineering released the following statement regarding the Waukesha cell phone tower:

At U.S. Cellular, our top priority is providing a great wireless experience for our customers through a high-quality network that keeps them connected to the people and information important to them.

We are continuing negotiations with Waukesha County officials for a lease extension of our current tower near the Huber Facility. These negotiations include several aspects of the lease agreement, such as EMF/RF indemnification language, rent, maintenance and insurance. We are hopeful that we can keep our presence at the current site, and we will, provided we can reach agreement with the county on reasonable terms.

We need to ensure that we can continue to provide network service to our customers in the area, so these ongoing negotiations have resulted in us looking for a new tower site location. After thorough research into several potential sites for relocating this tower, the location at Buen Samaritano United Methodist Church was determined to provide the best wireless service for our customers. This cell site is being designed to resemble a tree so it will blend in more with the surrounding area.

When exploring prospective locations for cell towers, we take several things into consideration, including community feedback, terrain, and aesthetics, and ultimately we want to place our towers in spots that provide our customers with the best wireless connection. We welcome further dialogue around this, and we look forward to having additional conversations with local Waukesha leaders and residents.