Council, GHI raise safety concerns over poor cellphone coverage; city to explore small-cell sites and institutional-account options

GHI members and councilors told the City Council work session that gaps in cellphone coverage in historic Greenbelt have been recurrent and can pose public-safety risks. Council members emphasized that coverage issues are not merely a convenience problem but a potential emergency-services risk if people cannot reach 911 reliably.

City staff said municipal Verizon phones also experience poor reception in parts of Greenbelt and suggested the city could consider switching institutional cellular accounts or engaging carriers directly. Staff offered to study potential city-owned locations (fire station, municipal building) that could host small cells or other equipment to strengthen coverage; councilmembers and residents discussed aesthetic concerns about large towers and favored less-obtrusive small-cell options.

Why it matters: multiple speakers emphasized that 911 access is a safety priority. Councilmember Chuck (speaker 10) said, "If you can't dial 911 on your phone, you have a major safety problem." GHI and the city discussed outreach steps—coordinated resident reporting to carriers, exploring alternative providers, and pre-identifying city sites—to put pressure on carriers to improve coverage.

Next steps: staff will compile options for small-cell siting and discuss whether the city should seek different institutional carrier contracts as leverage. Council expressed interest in preparing design templates and preferred locations in advance of any carrier applications to retain aesthetic control when proposals arrive.