The Hinsdale Village Board signaled its support Tuesday for hiring a consultant to review any applications for 5G installation the village receives.
Trustees are expected to approve a contract next month with MSA Municipal Services Associates, which will bill the village on a sliding scale depending on the type of application review necessary ($650 to $3,000). Any other services will be billed at $170.
All costs will be covered by the applicant, noted Trustee Luke Stifflear.
“State law provides that we pass that cost down to the telecommunications providers,” he said.
The Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act (Senate Bill 1451) prevents the village from prohibiting, regulating or charging for the collocation of small wireless facilities, which must be treated as permitted uses. The only thing the village can control is aesthetics.
Stuart Chapman, MSA’s president, complimented the village on the aesthetic standards it has in place for small wireless facilities.
“To be honest, they’re far beyond what many communities have. The village really did its homework on those,” he said.
The village not received any applications, but neighboring Western Springs has. The Western Springs Village Board denied the application, citing a number of reasons, Village President Tom Cauley said.
Stifflear mentioned that Hinsdale’s legislators, state Sen. Suzy Glowiak-Hilton (D-24, Elmhurst) and state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-47, Westmont), are looking to draft legislation that would give local authority back to municipalities. He noted the efforts of local residents as well.
“We also have a very large number of concerned residents that are actively trying to stop 5G altogether from coming here,” he said.
Chapman, who has more than 39 years of experience working on telecommunications project, said his firm works only with municipalities and a couple of nonprofits.
“We don’t work with the industry,” he said. “We don’t represent the industry.”
