MANCHESTER – While Mayor Robert Arace addressed a number of issues during his State of the Township last month, one subject that residents are eager to hear further progress about, is the status of cell phone service within the Whiting section of the community.
Mayor Arace provided an update to The Manchester Times about the issue which has been a concern of residents for several years now predating the current mayor’s administration.
“As to the cell tower on Route 530 with AT&T and Verizon we are currently working with Verizon to establish a clear location in Whiting down through 539 and we are in the early stages and we are hoping to get a third Verizon array at the Department of Public Works building on 539 to triangulate Whiting,” the mayor added
Last summer, Mayor Arace discussed with the council and the public, details of a meeting that was held with an engineering team at Verizon for the cell tower. He said at the time that “the third-party owner, American Tower, really had never responded to any of our requests for documents. We never really truly knew if any of the equipment was installed on the tower and before we reported back to the public, we wanted to hear it from Verizon themselves.”
“We pulled up a map and the Route 530 cell tower – believe it or not – has been activated since May of 2022. That said, I think there is obviously still service and connectivity issues in Whiting and they know that as well,” the mayor stated at the time.
He noted that during that meeting Verizon engineers “had a big map and Roosevelt City in particular had a big orange triangle and they are actively looking for a third site for a cell phone tower. Our tax accessor and our public works director are accessing the area and trying to find a spot to tell Verizon about.
Robert Vicari is among the residents of Whiting eager to hear some progress to the matter as he remains concerned and frustrated. “Nothing has been done so far to remedy the township’s poor cell service, no matter what vendor we use. When will this finally be addressed and finally fixed?”
“We have become the laughing stock of the entire surrounding communities as being the poorest cell service township. 2024, and this is unbelievable and sad at the same time. What can the public do, if anything about this horrible long-standing situation?” Vicari asked.
Vicari expressed his views to The Manchester Times stating, “it doesn’t matter what cell service we choose. The service is absolutely horrible.”
