The previous council reached out to Bell MTS after years of spotty service in St. Laurent.
In 2022, a new council was voted in, headed by Reeve Richard Chartrand. The council's priority was to get a cell tower for the area. They were promised it would be done in 2023, but it wasn't. Chartrand and the council began lobbying their local MLA and MP.
They then began reaching out to ratepayers, who wanted to know what they could do with the spotty cell service.
"Everyone knows that if you're coming up Highway 6 and you approach Lake Francis and you're on the phone, you have to tell people you're coming up to the dead zone, I'll call you back in 10 minutes when the service picks up again," Chartrand told CKDM NewsNow. "Then there are other various dead spots as well."
The Fire Department, ambulance, and the RCMP all commented on how they've had dropped calls at times.
Chartrand encouraged ratepayers to get in touch with their providers and tell them you're not happy with the cell service.
"Some of the providers actually started giving credits on cell bills because of the poor service," added Chartrand.
In 2025, the municipality received notice from Bell Media that it would put up a cell tower. The original completion date was March 2026. Due to frost in the ground and soft road conditions, they could not complete it at that time.
Bell Media provided an update that the tower will be complete by the end of this month.
"I think it's going to be fantastic," ended Chartrand. "I'm glad this will finally come to fruition."
On June 20, Chartrand and the council will host an open house at the recreation centre. It's open to the public and will feature different vendors, including Community Futures. The Fire Department, the RCMP, and by-law enforcement will also be in attendance.
Chartrand thanks the ratepayers who reached out and pushed for the tower over the years.
"I believe that if the cell tower is up by June 20, it would give us bragging rights. Here is one of the things you really pushed for. With the cooperation of you and Bell Media, we have this thing up," he ended. "It would be icing on the cake if we could have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 20."
The open house runs from 11:00 to 2:00.
