Update!! Exclusive Breaking News: Bowers Gives Away 61.25 Acres of MCPS School Land

UPDATE:

Is your local MCPS school overcrowded? Have you heard the Board of Education complain that they do not have any place to build more schools and that they can only build multi-level, overcrowded schools on too small lots?

Do you like being tricked?

Well Trick or Treat time is here, and the Parents' Coalition has heard that the Board of Education and Superintendent Larry Bowers have a big trick for parents this week!

The Trick is that without any public process or Board of Education public discussion or vote, Superintendent Larry Bowers is giving away 61.25 acres of open public school land.  

The Treat is that the land is being handed over to a no bid vendor.  

Where is this land located in the County?  It doesn't matter.  
Public school land is a valuable asset and its disposition should be discussed in public by the land owner, the Board of Education.  
The land could be used to build a school, it could be sold, or it could be traded.  The possibilities are endless, but, once again, usable public school land will disappear from the Board of Education inventory without any public process.  





We have seen over 176 acres of MCPS public school land lost since 1994.  

 
Say good-bye to another 61.25 acres this week and add it to the list of dedicated, public school land that was given in trust to the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education for the benefit of public school children, but not used for the educational benefit of our children.  

Happy Halloween!  

 

Exclusive Breaking News: Bowers Gives Away 18.5 Acres of MCPS School Land

PLEASE SEE UPDATE!

Is your local MCPS school overcrowded? Have you heard the Board of Education complain that they do not have any place to build more schools and that they can only build multi-level, overcrowded schools on too small lots?

Do you like being tricked?

Well Trick or Treat time is here, and the Parents' Coalition has heard that the Board of Education and Superintendent Larry Bowers have a big trick for parents this week!

The Trick is that without any public process or Board of Education public discussion or vote, Superintendent Larry Bowers is giving away 18.5 acres of open public school land.  

The Treat is that the land is being handed over to a no bid vendor.  

Where is this land located in the County?  It doesn't matter.  Public school land is a valuable asset and its disposition should be discussed in public by the land owner, the Board of Education.  The land could be used to build a school, it could be sold, or it could be traded.  The possibilities are endless, but, once again, usable public school land will disappear from the Board of Education inventory without any public process.  

We have seen over 176 acres of MCPS public school land lost since 1994.  
Say good-bye to another 18.5 acres this week and add it to the list of dedicated, public school land that was given in trust to the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education for the benefit of public school children, and not used for the educational benefit of our children.  

Happy Halloween!  

City of Baltimore Hearing on Prohibiting Cell Tower Contracts on School Property

                                     You are cordially invited to a hearing of the

Land Use and Transportation Committee

Wednesday, February 25

1:00 pm

Council Chambers

City Hall, 4^th floor

(Picture ID is required for admission to City Hall.)

12-0170 Wireless Telecommunications Antennae - Prohibited Contracts

FOR the purpose of prohibiting contracts or other authorizations for the placement of a wireless telecommunications antenna on property that is owned or controlled by the City of Baltimore and used for the recreation, care, or education of children; defining certain terms; and providing for a special effective date.

 

Please plan to come and testify.

If unable to attend, please email your comments to the following

committee members:

 

Council Members

Edward Reisinger, chair  Edward.Reisinger@baltimorecity.gov

James Kraft, vice chair  James.Kraft@baltimorecity.gov

Warren Branch,  Warren.Branch@baltimorecity.gov

Mary Pat Clarke,  marypat.clarke@baltimorecity.gov

Bill Henry,  bill.henry@baltimorecity.gov

Sharon Green Middleton,  Sharon.Middleton@baltimorecity.gov

Nick Mosby,  nick.mosby@baltimorecity.gov

 

Cell Tower to be Built on Chesapeake Bay Critical Area #milestone #dougduncan

Daly Elementary School cell tower compound

The Maryland Coalition to Halt Cell Towers at Schools has learned that the Anne Arundel Board of Education's plan to build a cell tower at the Severn River/Magothy River Middle School will place the cell tower within 1,000 feet of the Mean High Water Line of tidal waters or the landward edge of tidal wetlands and all waters of and lands under the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 

This land is governed by the Maryland Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays and will require approval of the Commission before construction can be commenced. 

The Maryland Critical Area Commission will now spend time reviewing a construction project that the land owner hasn't even officially approved.  That' right, the land is owned by the Anne Arundel Board of Education and the Board of Education hasn't even bothered to vote on this construction project.  

Apparently the Anne Arundel Board of Education couldn't care less about what gets built on land that is in the Critical Area of the Chesapeake Bay.

$2,000 to MD House Speaker Campaign from Milestone (VA Cell Tower Company - 3 cell towers per public school playground)

The Maryland Association of Boards of Education "partner" Milestone took a sudden liking to Maryland campaigns at the end of October contributing $5,000 to PG County Executive Rushern Bakers' referendum proposal, $2,000 to PG Delegate Michael Vaughn's campaign, and $2,000 to Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch's campaign.

Isn't that super the way a corporation based in Virginia suddenly took a interest in Prince George's and Maryland campaigns!  
This couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that Milestone Communications wants to put 3 cell towers on every public school playground in Prince George's County, could it?


Maryland House of Delegates
House Speaker
Delegate Michael Busch

MABE Cell Tower "Partner" Gives $5,000 to PG Referendum. More Cell Towers for Public Schools!

Remember that the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) "partnered" with a Virginia Company to push for cell towers on public school playgrounds in Maryland. The company is called Milestone and has about 5 or 6 different company names, all run by the same man.

Former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan was a spokesmodel for Milestone.  

We know that in Prince George's County the Milestone cell tower projects are being allowed to SKIP the Prince George's Special Exception process, even though the PG Regulations call for these construction projects to go through the Special Exception process. 

Now we find out that one of the numerous Milestone companies donated $5,000 to a referendum effort supported by the Prince George's County Executive, Rushern Baker.  

Contrary to the quote from the Milestone president in the Washington Times article below, the County Executive runs the Executive Branch of the PG government that INCLUDES PERMITTING and the Cell Tower review committee that violated the Maryland Open Meetings Act this year.

*************
  

Milestone Tower Limited Partnership, a company owned by Leonard Forkas, who is working on plans to install cellphone towers on county school buildings, donated $5,000.

Mr. Forkas said his support of the ballot initiative was solely based on his support for Mr. Baker.
“We like Rushern Baker. I think he’s been doing a phenomenal job for Prince George’s County,” he said, noting that the review process for cell tower site selection does not involve either the county executive or the county council.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/9/prince-georges-county-term-limit-referendum-drew-d/#ixzz3LWXYjtFu
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Breaking News: Deal Requires 60 Cell Towers on PG Public School Playgrounds Now! #mabe #dougduncan #nobrainer

In order for the Prince George's County Board of Education to attempt to meet the 5 year revenue projections that were given in 2010 for the "no-brainer" Milestone cell tower deal 60 cell towers need to be built on public school playgrounds immediately!

The Prince George's County Board of Education was "sold" the Milestone no-bid deal based on a 5 year revenue projection of $2.5 million.  Apparently, no one bothered to mention to the Board of Education that in order to bring in that $2.5 million over a 5 year period they would have to immediately build 60 cell towers on PGCPS playgrounds!

The Prince George's County Board of Education is now into the 4th year of the super Milestone cell tower deal and not one single cell tower has been built.  At best, the 5 year revenue from this deal will be a $25,000 one time site fee and a $12,000 lease payment.  That's a 5 year total of $37,000.  A far cry from the $2.5 million that was projected back in 2010. 

 *********************
Did any Prince George's County Board of Education members actually read the answers to the questions they posed about the FY 2012 PGCPS Operating Budget?  See page 19 of this Questions from the Board document dated February 22, 2011.

The Board Action Summary
–
Telecommunications Leasing Master Agreement with Milestone Communication Management III, Inc., dated November 11, 2010, provided a potential revenue estimate at approximately $2.5 million over a five (5) year period. However, administration was asked by the Board of Education to provide anticipated revenue for the 2011-2012 school year only (Refer to 01.31.11 BOE Part II- Question #40). The response that was provided anticipated generating annual revenue of $1.2 million to $2.1 million during the 2011-2012 school year only. This estimate was based on 60 potential towers being placed on various sites, a site fee of $25,000, per site, and the spread of the estimated revenue as stated in the November 11, 2010 Board Action Summary of $2.5 million over a five (5) year period.

Gazette: Coalition forms to oppose cell towers on school ground

Several Montgomery County groups have joined or are interested in the efforts of a statewide coalition that stands opposed to cell towers being placed on school grounds.
The recently formed Maryland State Coalition Against Cell Towers on Schools, with a mission to stop the towers’ construction at schools, ties together a variety of groups that also include those from Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties and the Baltimore area....

...David Keaton, a member of the Julius West group, said he thinks Montgomery is facing a different situation than the ones Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties are experiencing. While the two other counties are looking at more centralized leasing agreements for cell towers, he said, Montgomery residents must keep an eye out for tower proposals at each school.
If a dozen schools are considering cell towers — “that’s a dozen different fights,” he said...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140929/NEWS/140929402/1022/coalition-forms-to-oppose-cell-towers-on-school-ground&template=gazette

Exclusive: Parents' Coalition Releases Cell Tower Deal Documents from Across the State

Daly Elementary School playground
Germantown, MD
The PTA and neighbors opposed
the construction of this cell tower.
The MCPS Board of Education
built the tower anyway.

The Parents' Coalition has conducted Maryland Public Information Act requests in all of the 9 public school counties in the State of Maryland that have entered into deals with the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) partner Milestone Communications.

These never before seen documents are available now only through the Parents' Coalition.  Even the local public school systems that have entered into these deals have not made all of these documents available to their parents and citizens.

The Parents' Coalition does not believe that these public school documents should be a secret.

When compared, we immediately see that there are only two Boards of Education, Anne Arundel and Prince George's, that have entered into the unruly and overreaching "Master Agreement" that purports to turn over virtually all county Board of Education property to Milestone Communications for use as cell tower sites.

The "Master Agreements" attempt to eliminate the ability of all parents and citizens countywide to participate and be heard in decisions regarding construction on their local public school playground.

Parents in Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County are just now finding out the surprising news that their local public school playground is on a list of potential cell tower sites being marketed to telecommunications companies.

Under these "Master Agreements" each public school playground is available for the construction of up to three cell tower compounds!  Yes, THREE per playground!

Click the link below for all of the MABE partner Milestone Communications documents that we have obtained.

Documents: Milestone Communications - Cell Towers on Public School Land in Maryland

PG Sentinel: NAACP says no to cell phone towers

UPPER MARLBORO – Parents and activists—including the head of the Prince George’s County chapter of the NAACP—continued their fight against cell phone towers being placed on school property. At the Prince George’s County Board of Education’s first meeting for the 2014-15 year several parents spoke out asking the Board to not allow cell phone towers to be placed at Benjamin Tasker Middle School and Charles H. Flowers High School.http://www.thesentinel.com/pgs/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=710:naacp-says-no-to-cell-phone-towers&Itemid=766

Wheaton HS will have Cell Tower within a few feet of School #nobrainer

The Parents' Coalition has had questions about the location of the Wheaton High School cell tower now that the school is being modernized.  The cell tower used to be on the football field, but with the new design the cell tower will be smack up against the school building and next to a student courtyard.

The architect's rendering of this structure is not quite accurate.  See what the cell tower actually looks like below. 

http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2012/documents/20121213_EdisonWheaton_MandatoryReferral.pdf

Here is what the Wheaton High School cell tower actually looks like now.

Wheaton High School cell tower

Breaking News: A Lot to Hide in Milestone Cell Tower Deal!

Way back in 2010 the Prince George's County Board of Education signed up for Doug Duncan's "no brainer" public school playground cell tower deal.

In just 40 seconds the Prince George's Board of Education discussed and voted on the construction of multiple cell towers on each of 73 of their public school playgrounds.

Now in 2014, Prince George's County communities are finding out that multiple cell towers are going to be built on their neighborhood public school playgrounds.

We asked for documents, e-mails and correspondence that would explain what is going on between the Prince George's County Board of Education and Milestone Communications Management III, Inc. through a Maryland Public Information Act request. 

It looks like quite a lot has gone on in just the last year between the PG Board of Education and Milestone Communications Management III.  So much has gone on that the PG Board of Education is charging us $4,532 to see these documents!

$4,532!  There has obviously been a lot of behind the scenes communication between the PG Board of Education and Milestone Communications Management III, Inc.

Remember the public discussion of this "no brainer" deal only took 40 seconds back in 2010.  

Looks like the public has been missing out on quite a bit behind the scenes!

  2014 Aug 12 PG County Board of Education -  Milestone Communications by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Teen Rescued After Climbing Cell Tower #getthecellout #attractivenuisance #celltowersdontbelongonplaygrounds

Teen Rescued After Climbing Cell Tower In Northfield « CBS Chicago

Declare a Permanent Ban on the Use of JWMS as a Cell Tower Site

July 14, 2014, letter from neighbors of Julius West Middle School in Rockville to the Board of Education and Superintendent Joshua Starr.

  2014 Julius West Neighbors Letter Starr by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

It's Hard to Track BOE's Action without Agendas, Packets or Minutes #openmeetingsact #celltowers

Parents in Anne Arundel County are trying to understand how their Board of Education supposedly contracted out all public school playgrounds for use as locations for cell towers. 

In tracking the actions of the Anne Arundel Board of Education it has become clear that there was discussion, a briefing packet, and a vote on the Milestone Communications cell tower deal on January 24, 2012.  The problem is there are no minutes for the January 24, 2012, meeting.  

Let's see what the Open Meetings Act Compliance Board says about a Board of Education meeting and vote that are not documented.

Here is the complaint that has been filed today.

July 30, 2014

Open Meetings Compliance Board

c/o Attorney General’s Office

200 St. Paul Place

Baltimore, MD 21202

Re: Anne Arundel County Board of Education

To Members of the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board:

The following complaint is filed with your office with regard to a meeting of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education.

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education announced that they would be holding a meeting on January 24, 2012.

http://www.aacps.org/admin/anmviewer.asp?a=1307&z=62

This meeting was called a budget workshop and no public comment was to be permitted at this meeting.

The Board did not post an Agenda for this meeting.

Five months later at the June 20, 2012, Board of Education meeting the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Chief Operating Officer (COO) Alex L. Szachnowicz stated,

“...Jan 24th when we met that was part of the briefing packet for that exhibit item that

the Board voted on...”

The COO makes reference to a meeting, a briefing packet and a vote that are not detailed in any public minutes of the Anne Arundel Board of Education.

The video from the June 20, 2012, Board meeting has been clipped to allow the Open Meetings Compliance Board to listen to this specific statement by the COO. The video clip is located at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdWzRzeMFUI&feature=youtu.be

The statement from the COO follows the question that starts at the 3 minute and 30 second mark of the video.

The Anne Arundel Board of Education website does not show any minutes or video from the January 24, 2012, meeting.

The public has been deprived of the minutes of the public meeting of January 24, 2012, and of the briefing packet that was submitted to the Board of Education for their vote on that date. There is no record of the vote that was taken on January 24, 2012, and thus no information as to how individual Board members voted on this matter. The Board of Education votes for 2012 are shown in the document at this link.

http://www.aacps.org/admin/articlefiles/BoardvotesFY2012.pdf

The January 24, 2012, meeting of the Anne Arundel Board of Education did not comply with the requirements of the Maryland Open Meetings Act. The failure to comply with the Act has directly impacted the public’s ability to monitor the actions of the Anne Arundel Board of Education.

Thank you for reviewing this complaint.

Bowie parents concerned county is “celling out” children’s health

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140723/NEWS/140729716&template=gazette

Breaking News: Another cell tower for a public school playground! #milestone #votedougduncan #celltower #HAZMAT

Daly Elementary School playground
Germantown, MD

Another cell tower is coming to a Prince George's public school playground. 

Do parents or neighbors at this school even know about this proposal yet? Bet they don't. 

We just found this public notice buried in the notices in the Prince George's County Sentinel. 

How often do you read the public notices? If you live near a public school in Maryland you should be reading them every week because this is how you get public notice of a cell tower going up at your neighborhood public school playground. 

Remember the Prince George's BOE spent a total of 40 seconds in 2010 putting through cell towers for 73 public school sites in the county.  This public notice is for James Madison Middle School in Upper Marlboro, MD, but the notice doesn't tell you that.

This is the super cool deal that Montgomery County's own Doug Duncan pushed on Boards of Education all over the state.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: Do not look for these notices online.  The full Prince George’s County legal notice section is available only in the subscriber edition of the Sentinel, which is available for sale at selected locations throughout Prince George’s County.

------------------------------------------------------

PUBLIC NOTICE:

Network Building + Consulting on behalf of Milestone Communications propose to build 132-foot Monopole Communications Tower.  If the tower requires lighting,anticipated lighting application is mediumi ntensity dual red/white strobes.

The Site location is 300 Woodyard Road,Upper Marlboro, Prince George County,MD 20772,

Lat:38-47-19.52,Long:76-50-19.84.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Antennae Structure Registration (ASR,Form 854) filing numbe ris A0909292.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS-Interested persons may review the application

(www.fcc.gov/asr/applications)

by entering the filing number.

Environmental concerns may be raised by filing a Request for Environmental Review

( www.fcc.gov/asr/environmentalrequest ) and online

fillings are strongly encouraged.

The mailing address to file paper copy is: FCC Requests for Environmental Review Attn: Ramon Williams,445 12th Street SW, Washington DC 20554.

HISTORIC PROPERTIES EFFECTS - Public comments regarding potential effects on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to:

Trileaf Corp 

Natalie.kleikamp@... 10845 Olive Blvd Suite 260 St Louis MO 63141 314-997-6111.

0003996

1t

07I17/14

  Middel School Cell Tower Notice Surprise by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

"...it would not surprise me at all to see the cell towers crop up mostly in schools with the largest populations of students receiving free and reduced meals..."

Milestone Communications, the company that wants to erect a cell tower at Benjamin Tasker Middle School, has yet to satisfy terms of the 1996 Federal Telecommunications Act. They looked at the data and only sent letters of notification to those they “felt needed to be notified.” Sorry, that doesn’t cut it! 

Furthermore, the Prince George’s County school board and City Council have not acted in the best interests of the citizens. As usual, the buck has been passed very quickly and quietly, and it would not surprise me at all to see the cell towers crop up mostly in schools with the largest populations of students receiving free and reduced meals...

Bowie Blade News: Lynn Beiber: Benjamin Tasker cell tower proposal is at a crossroads

Prince George’s Parents Protest Cell Towers at Schools

http://bowie.patch.com/groups/schools/p/prince-georges-parents-protest-cell-towers-at-schools

Milestone Won't Pay Property Taxes on Cell Towers - Board Responds to Parents' Coalition

Why should Milestone Communications cell towers pay property taxes in Maryland?  

(Remember, this is the Doug Duncan "no brainer" deal.)

Well, it's only a Maryland regulation! 

But, who needs tax regulations?  Apparently not the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. 

Today, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education discussed the placement of a Milestone Communications cell tower on the Magothy River and Severn River Middle Schools site.  Listen to the discussion in the video below.

• First, you will hear a Anne Arundel Board member state that there is a federal "obligation" that cell towers be built on public school playgrounds (minute 6 of video).  Really? Exactly what federal law says that?

• Second, you will hear the Anne Arundel Board members discuss an e-mail from the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD (minute 9 of video, Parents' Coalition mentioned at 11:30 of video) alerting them to the fact that the one cell tower already in operation in their county at Broadneck High School does not have a tax account id number and is not paying property taxes.  A Milestone Communications representative is sitting right at the table in front of the Board while they discuss this issue.  Listen as the school administrators and Milestone Communications representative waive away any responsibility for paying property taxes on cell towers located on public school land.  It's only property taxes.  Who cares if Milestone Communications doesn't pay the property taxes on their for-profit cell towers?