ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — We've all had to deal with spotty cell service from time to time, but people in the Town of Aurora have been complaining about it for a while now.
Verizon is trying to add a cell tower there, but it's not sitting well with some residents. Residents say it will be an eyesore in the community and will bring property value down. However, an area business is depending on the tower to come.
A Murray Bros. Nurseries employee, Crystal O'Hare, took 2 On Your Side around the property, showing how spotty her cell service is.
"I have like two bars, but I'm walking around," she said.
O'Hare proceeded to take 2 On Your Side to the greenhouse, testing her cell service. She says the greenhouse is often a dead zone.
"Now we have three bars. So here I'll have a little bit more service, but it's all hit or miss," O'Hare saod. "Oh! See now it's moved up four bars, so it's changing constantly."
Spotty and weak cell service has challenged the Town of Aurora residents for years. Many residents said off camera:
"Calls would drop."
"Messages will deliver slowly."
Or, "They can't make a call at all."
"We have two or three bars, but it never gets to five," O'Hare said.
Verizon is trying to add a new 135-foot cell tower to the Murray Bros. property. Management says it will sit on the back of their seven-acre property, out of the way.
"They asked a bunch of people and asked if they were interested in it. We said sure because we got a lot of property in the back," general manager Kim Schichtel said.
She is explaining how conversations went to bring the tower to the property.
"People say it's going to be an eyesore because they think it's going by the road, but it's not. It's going way in the back," she said.
The Town of Aurora is having a town meeting Wednesday night and will be hearing from residents. Town board supervisor Charles Snyder is aware of the service issues and says this tower will make things better.
"There's a dead zone out there. We try to weigh both ends of it. Hopefully, we come to a happy medium," Snyder said.
Verizon sent a statement to 2 On Your Side addressing residents' concerns.
"As part of our significant investment in expanding our coverage in Western New York and across the country, our engineers study existing data traffic and anticipated the need to determine placement for cell sites. We work with each municipality to develop and engineer the best possible network, given each local community’s needs.
"This cell site in Orchard Park will improve the network experience for Verizon customers in the area — particularly important now and into the future, as many residents continue to depend on reliable broadband service to work, learn, and stream entertainment from home.
"In addition, all of our network equipment operates within FCC guidelines. For more information, please visit wirelesshealthfacts.com."