Board of Ed. wants to Give Cell Vendor who is NOT Paying Property Taxes More Land at Wheaton High School #celltower

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Wheaton High School has a cell tower right next to the school building.  The image at left shows how close the cell tower is to the school building. 

The cell tower used to be a light pole on the football field, but when MCPS built a new Wheaton High School they built the new school right next to the cell tower.  The school building moved, the cell tower did not.

There are currently 3 companies using the Wheaton High School cell tower:  AT&T, Sprint Clearwire, and T-Mobile.



Sprint/Nextel wants to add six antennas and nine remote radio heads (RRH) at 85' on the 97'5" monopole, and construct a 12' x 20' compound on Wheaton High School property to support the new antennas and radio heads.  

Each of the cell tower companies are required by Maryland law to pay property taxes on their cell tower locations.  However, a check of Montgomery County Property Tax records shows that two of the companies using the Wheaton High School cell tower are not keeping up with their annual property tax payments. 

One of the companies not current in paying Maryland Property Taxes is Sprint Clearwire.

Nonetheless, the Montgomery County Board of Education has asked the Montgomery County Tower Committee to approve these new antennas, new radio heads and new 12' x 20' base for a company that is in arrears on paying their property taxes.

The Montgomery County Tower Committee will approve (they always do) the addition of these new antennas, radio heads and 12' x 20' base compound at their November 7, 2018, meeting. 

Below are the Montgomery County Property Tax bills for Sprint Clearwire and AT&T at the Wheaton High School cell tower.

It’s a one-woman show against Mobilitie’s rights of way crusade #SilverSpring #Maryland

Mobilitie might have met the one woman in America who has the best chance with the FCC to have the agency bridle, what she describes as, the distributed antenna system (DAS) provider’s desire to “run roughshod over local communities” as it attempts to reduce rights of way fees that they say will impede future 5G growth.

But Mobilitie has the support of CTIA, and the influential trade group believes that there are onerous approval processes in many communities that could prevent the U.S. from enjoying the full benefits of new wireless technology due to fewer small cells being deployed, and they agree that high fees to use utility poles are a clear obstruction.

On Dec. 22, 2016, the FCC said it was seeking comments regarding streamlining its wireless siting policies, an effort by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) that stems, in part, from a petition for a declaratory ruling filed by Mobilitie, LLC titled: “Promoting Broadband for All Americans by prohibiting Excessive Charges for Access to Public Rights of Way (PROW).

Maryland resident stands out amongst commenters
 
Thirty-two commenters have responded to date with ten being posted Tuesday, nine of them extolling the need to limit wireless siting due to WiFi and cell tower RF concerns, one oxymoronically suggesting that the U.S. would be better off if it cut its wireless umbilical cord and returned to Ethernet cables.

But tucked in-between the commenters who don’t address the WTB’s interest in how to best build out a timely 5G network is correspondence from Silver Springs, Md. resident Sue Present who said that Mobilitie was trafficking in hyperbole and belonged to a wireless industry cabal of “conniving, gluttonous bullies.”

At their initial read, a WTB staffer could possibly pass off Present’s opening salvo as the rantings of a NIMBY protester concerned about RF wafting underneath their tinfoil chapeau.
Fortunately for Present, they’ll read further...

http://wirelessestimator.com/articles/2017/its-a-one-woman-show-against-mobilities-rights-of-way-crusade/

“Do you really need to watch a high definition movie while walking your dog?”

Wireless Service Providers Tell County Council ‘Small Antennas’ Are Safe:

...The council held a public hearing on a zoning text amendment that would remove the requirement that companies applying to install the small antennas go through the county’s court-like hearing examiner process for each application. The “small antennas” are typically 2 to 5 feet in height and the hearing examiner requirement would be waived only for installations on poles that measure 30 feet or less in height.

Council President Nancy Floreen introduced the legislation amid the county’s receipt of more than 100 small antenna applications from Crown Castle, the Houston-based company that installs the antennas for major telecom companies such as Verizon, AT&T and Sprint...

Cell Tower at Schools Catches Fire #celltower

Newport News, Va. – A cell phone tower in the 5800 block of Marshall Avenue caught on fire Monday around noon, according to the Newport News Fire Department.
Fire Chief Stephen Pincus says a company was working on the tower doing some welding when some insulation to the wires caught on fire.
Crews arrived to find a massive amount of fire at the base of the tower and wires burning along the full length of the tower.
With heat index values already over 100 degrees in Newport News, fire crews had some difficulty putting the fire out because the heat was so taxing. It took approximately 25 minutes to get the fire under control.
The structural integrity of the tower was compromised due to the heat of the fire and the tower is now leaning. The damage is extensive and the tower has been disabled...

...The tower is located on property in between Heritage High School and Achievable Dreams Middle & High School. Students were not in school but teachers were at both locations.