It’s not easy to win community approval to put up new communications towers in Southeast.

The Petersburg borough assembly will hold a pair of work sessions to discuss Tidal Network’s proposal for communication towers in the community, giving residents additional opportunities to voice their concerns and objections.

The nonprofit internet provider, operated by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, ran into opposition in Wrangell to its plans to install a telecommunications tower to provide wireless signals.

In a 3-1 vote on Nov. 4, the Wrangell planning and zoning commission denied Tidal Network’s application for a conditional-use permit to erect a 230-foot-tall tower near 13-Mile Zimovia Highway.

Commissioners indicated that the height of the tower and the visual impacts of the structure and lighting — issues raised by multiple nearby property owners in public testimony — were the basis for their denial.

In Haines, the planning and zoning commission, after listening to community concerns, postponed a decision earlier this month on a permit for an AT&T tower on a private parcel zoned for industrial use.

During the hearing, company representatives faced pointed questioning from Haines planning commissioners and the public regarding the tower’s impact on a nearby residential neighborhood, the impact on property values and the company’s plan if the tower collapsed.

The Petersburg assembly scheduled a work session for Wednesday, Jan. 28, for community members to raise concerns about the towers in that community. Tidal Network representatives will be available to answer questions at another assembly work session on Monday, Feb. 2,

Assembly Member Jeff Meucci requested the Jan. 28 meeting, saying he wanted to give community members a formal opportunity to express frustrations directly to the assembly.

“Since I was elected in October, this has been a constant conversation in my life,” Meucci said. “Almost every day, somebody has called me and said, ‘What the heck? How are we where we are now?’”

During the public comment period at the Jan. 20 assembly meeting, about a dozen residents reiterated their objections to Tidal Network’s tower construction plans in Petersburg.

Andy Wright, who has lived near Mill Road for over 30 years, warned that the tower’s proximity to residential property would affect future housing development and property values.

John Murgas asked the assembly “respectfully and humbly … do not commit all we residents and future generations to a permanent change to our cherished view shed.”

Tom Kowalske urged the assembly to “cease dialog with Tidal” and consider filing a preliminary injunction against the towers.