Mayor confronts poor cell reception in spots in city

A portion of Vermilion notorious for poor cell reception has led Mayor Jim Forthofer to reach out for potential solutions to the issue.

During an Aug. 5 City Council meeting, Forthofer said he has reached out to representatives from Verizon in an attempt to resolve the issues that have plagued the city’s northeastern portion for a few years.

“In the pursuit of the dead cell issue in northeastern Vermilion, as raised by Councilwoman (At-large Monica) Stark, I found our new contact at Verizon,” he said during the meeting.

In providing a map of the dead cell area in the city, Forthofer said representatives “are all in agreement that we have a problem, which I see as great progress.”

The main portion running into reception issues runs along the city’s U.S. Route 6 corridor, from the eastern most side to the city lines to somewhere around Morton Road near the western city lines on Liberty Avenue, he said.

What makes the resolution of the issue more urgent is the development of Vermilion’s Route 6 Corridor plan, paid for by Lorain County commissioners, which aims to revitalize that side of town.

With new businesses opening in the corridor like Defense Soap, Vintage Crossing and Road to Hope House, Forthofer said the lack of reception could harm the economic development in the area.

Many businesses and residents in that dead zone use Verizon for their service provider, he said.

“It’s almost so notorious (for bad reception) that you almost don’t get complaints,” Forthofer said.

With the company’s main engineer on vacation, he said he plans to bring the conversation to Council once more develops.

“At this point, I’m not going to waste our time meeting with a (public relations) type, but will bring the representative to Council when we have something more substantial,” Forthofer said.