Riverbank council pauses Verizon lease for Castleburg Park tower, requests more data and alternate sites

Riverbank City Council on March 11 continued consideration of a proposed land-lease agreement with Verizon Wireless to install cellular equipment at Castleburg Park, saying they wanted more technical data and community outreach before making a final decision.

The council heard a presentation from Verizon and an independent radio-frequency (RF) consultant about a site Verizon said would fill a local coverage and capacity gap. Carmina de Guzman, an RF engineer for the project, told the council, “the proposed site is needed as the existing tower sites are at full are nearing full capacity.” David Witkowski, founder and CEO of Oku Solutions, who reviewed the RF safety analysis, told the council that predictive exposure reports are conservative and that measured field levels typically come in lower: “When we actually measure a site in the real world, they usually come in about 5 to 10 times lower.”

Why it matters: Verizon said several nearby sectors are reaching capacity, which can cause dropped calls, slow data and reduced service quality during heavy usage. Verizon asked to lease a portion of Castleburg Park to…