Verizon's apparent decision to build a 155-foot cell phone tower at the southeast corner of the Wooster Street Interstate 75 interchange has Bowling Green and Bowling Green State University officials extremely upset.
The property is owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Mayor Richard Edwards told BG City Council Monday night the city and university thought they had convinced Verizon to consider other sites. Monday morning, a construction firm apparently hired by Verizon, began clearing the site and building an access road.
Edwards said the issue dates to April 22, 2008.
Edwards said the city learned last October the site was again a possibility. "On Oct. 2, 2012 BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey and I wrote a joint letter which was hand delivered to Todd Audet, district deputy director for ODOT District 2 in Bowling Green." He said it was a "strongly worded letter" objecting to the project. The letter was never acknowledged, except when then State Rep. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, and BGSU's legislative rep in Columbus worked through intermediaries.
City Attorney Mike Marsh notified Verizon on March 8 that should they proceed with construction, the city would not supply electricity to the site. Marsh told council Monday night he expects Verizon's intention is build the tower and then sue the city.
Both Gardner, now a state senator, and State Rep. Tim Brown, R-Bowling Green, told council they would work on getting the parties talking about the situation.
Marsh said the project is between ODOT and Verizon, as a way for ODOT to make money on a lease. "Let's put this right out there. ODOT is not the city's friend on this," Marsh said.
"The university and the city have made our position clear to both Verizon and the Ohio Department of Transportation and have been working for over a year to reach an amicable solution, including a number of alternative sites nearby," BGSU said in a statement. "We are disappointed that the company has ignored these concerns and begun construction."
The city and university have been working on ways to enhance the entrance to the city from I-75.