ZELIENOPLE — People on Main Street in the borough may get improved cell phone service in the near future.

Borough council heard a proposal from Brad Ritter and Paul Gilbert of Crown Castle telecommunications firm Monday night who want to install three devices on Main Street that would improve wireless service.

Crown Castle is a telecommunications firm that installs and operates both wireless towers and smaller “network nodes” that boost signals in areas with poor coverage.

They proposed three cabinets that would be hung on utility poles on Main Street. The cabinets would be 6 feet tall, 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep and would be hung at least 10 feet off the ground.

The devices would improve signal strength and also data capacity for wireless devices, Ritter said.

Zelienople was chosen for installation because it has poor coverage in some areas and has a downtown that is dense with businesses and activity, he said.

”The primary goal is really to cover Main Street, that traffic, those businesses, those pedestrians,” he said.

The installation and maintenance of the equipment would be at no cost to the borough, and the borough would collect a fee from the company in exchange for use of its utility poles and right of way.

After hearing an original pitch from representatives of the firm, council members visited Bridgeville, Allegheny County, to look at a mock-build of the equipment being proposed.

After seeing the size and appearance of the equipment, they expressed concerns about them being an eyesore.

“The technology I think makes sense and we embrace bringing it to the community, we just don’t want to hang it up off the street,” Greg Semel said.

One alternative to hanging the devices on the utility poles would be to have the equipment somewhere on the ground and connected to an inconspicuous antenna on a pole or building.

At the suggestion of council President Allen Bayer, council requested that the Crown Castle employees meet with borough street superintendent Mark Matscherz to discuss potential locations on the ground for the equipment.

Police Chief Jim Miller had previously said he supports the installation saying that officers use wireless devices both in the borough building and on Main Street and they often experience poor signals.