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Saturday, October 20, 2012

BOE to hand over Cell Tower Authority to Starr

There will be no more votes about cell tower antennas at the public Board of Education (BOE) table after Monday.

On Monday, October 22, 2012, the BOE will be handing over the power to add cell tower antennas on public school land to Superintendent Joshua Starr.  

Parents, concerned about cell towers on playgrounds?  Take a hike.  It's all up to Starr now. No more public discussion. No more votes of your elected Board of Education members. No more recording of these land transactions in the public BOE minutes.

SUPERINTENDENT STARR wants to eliminate TRANSPARENCY in decisions concerning the use of public school land by entities such as cell tower companies.  

The Board of Education will be DELEGATING the AUTHORITY to sign LEASES of 6 years or less of public school property to the Superintendent. Now, what goes on at your local public school property is up to Starr, and Starr alone.  Neighbors, get ready for some surprises!  

Here's Starr's memo for the October 22, 2012 BOE meeting.  Look for a unanimous vote by the BOE in favor of turning over all this power to Starr.  Afterall, who in Montgomery County wants transparency? 

3.2.1 Delegation of Authority

6 comments:

  1. This is a sad day.
    Our schools will now be overrun with cell towers. Will it effect our children? Will it effect our property value? Is it safe?
    Who cares! Josh Starr can do whatever he wants now with no public discussion. Nice.

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    1. The two big issues with existing cell towers are the extending of current leases and the addition of transmitters. For example, Jerry Weast could have put a cell tower on a school site (think Kennedy High School) and now Starr can add additional transmitters to the pole thus increasing the RF exposure for the students and neighbors near the cell tower pole. Starr can now do that without any public discussion.

      So if you live near a cell tower, keep you eyes out for any construction or changes to the cell tower pole.

      Starr can also move a pole on a site without any BOE discussion.

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    2. I thought the board made a resolution to no longer place cell towers at your schools? What happened???

      Our leases have expired (due diligence period) without completion of the permit process that was part of the agreement, so the deals should be null / void. Yet they are moving ahead anyway. And, T-mobile towers were recently sold, so we do not even know who locally is overseeing any of it. What a mess! I wouldn't be surprised if the board here tries to pull a fast one on us like your board is doing there. What is with all these elected officials wanting to give away the power of the very job they were elected by the people to do?? We have board members advocating for a state appointed (not elected) commission to become a third authorizer for charter schools and Board of Commissioners and Director of Planning refusing to overseeing zoning activity. Truly amazing.

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  2. I think a third big issue is the money "paid" to the schools that have cell towers.
    This money is put into the school "fund" and there is no accountability for it. What are the schools spending it on? Does anyone know?

    One cell tower will generate at a minimum 8,000 per year for the host school. This amount increases every year. This is only a third of the payment for one cell tower. One-third goes to MCPS and the last third is split amoung other schools in the cluster.

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  3. This is exactly the kind of issue that the county council has legal authority over and refuses to do anything about. This is their responsibility. Cell towers have absolutely nothing to do with curriculum or a child's education. Nothing. So, to those of you who voted for this 'kick the can' county council, YOU are responsible when your neighborhood home values plummet because a 100-foot monopole is across the street from your house. Here is the council email address: county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov or, go to the facebook page of the councilmember and ask them. Hans Riemer? Phil Andrews? George Leventhal? Roger Berliner? Nancy Navarro? Craig Rice? Nancy Floreen? Valerie Ervin? Marc Elrich? Hello, anybody home?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Once the towers are up, watch for a push for state or local "virtual" schools. That is where they are headed here. Then they can claim there is an educational need for the towers and they will be impossible to take down. Best try to fight them before they go up! Don't know if it is T-mobile, but they recently sold their towers to Crown Castle. That might affect the contracts. We're looking into the same here in Atlanta (DeKalb County). Good luck!

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