In
Collier County, Florida a group of parents are upset over the construction of a
75-foot cell phone tower that was placed at Poinciana Elementary School. Many of
the parents whose children attend this school were unaware that this project
was occurring until they drove up to see the tower in the parking lot. Despite
the FCC and the American Cancer Society’s conclusions that the low levels of
radiofrequency that is emitted from cell towers isn’t harmful, parents still
believe placing the tower so close to the school is unsafe for the children.
This
tower was approved in April of 2011 by the student advisory council. Collier
County School District now has 4 cell phone towers that generate around $58,000
a year.
Our company has erected several towers at schools in two different counties. The key to successfully siting these towers, at least with minimal opposition, is to keep an open line of communication with the school board, the school, the parents, and the surrounding community. The onus of communication should be on the school or the school board with great support and information from the tower company. One school board with which we negotiated an agreement did not inform their school of the tower. BIG (190' flagpole big) surprise on construction day!
ReplyDeleteWe always refer the infamous November 2009 AGL article by Richard R. Strickland, "Tower-mounted Antennas Improve RF Safety for Cell Phone Users." The summary says it all: "It may seem counterintuitive, but sometimes the best way to reduce RF exposure for schoolchildren who use their cell phones is to place the antenna tower closer to the school."
This tower is within 150 feet of our residential property lines and no one in our community was notified of these plans! Standard procedure is that neighboring residents should be notified of any permits approved nearby. We constantly receive permit notices for things we don't care about - this we care about and we were never informed.
ReplyDeleteAs in the situation Jen F describes above, BIG ugly surprise on construction day.
As it happens, the school parents and the PTA were never advised either. The SAC has no authority to make a decision like this and the school board has yet to release the minutes from the approval meeting, how many attended and who, and what the vote was at the seemingly secret April 2011 meeting.