By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

As a public hearing for a proposed cell phone tower in Marion draws near, city council members on Monday signed a document agreeing to extend the date for it to take place.

The hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Marion community room, as agreed between the city and the cell phone company in March. A hearing was scheduled for late February, but the company planning to build the tower and city officials agreed to extend the date for the hearing as late as July 2. The proposal to build a 129-foot Verizon cell phone tower in Marion has sparked backlash from neighbors. Neighbors contend the city failed to follow the law by not clearly specifying the proposed location of the tower, Commercial and Forest Sts., in a public notice and not mailing letters to them 20 days before the originally-scheduled February hearing.

Neighbors are also worried about possible health threats arising from exposure to cell phone tower transmissions and declining property values.