Parents, residents reiterate concerns about Shady Side cell tower

Aug. 24--Residents continued opposing a cellphone tower proposed for behind Shady Side Elementary Wednesday, telling members of Anne Arundel County school board they fear for the health of children attending the school.

"Please don't poison my babies," parent James Fonfara said.

Verizon Wireless and Milestone Communications have proposed a 114-foot telecommunications monopole antenna in the woods behind the school. They say it is needed to improve cellphone reception in the area. Other carriers will also be able to place antenna for their own service on the tower.

At a public information meeting this month, Milestone President Len Forkas said radio energy the tower will put off is no different than emitted by cellphones themselves.

"There's no credible evidence that shows that this radio energy causes harm to anyone," he said.

The tower placement would be part of an agreement Milestone made with Anne Arundel County Public Schools in 2012, Renewed this summer, it allows the company to lease portions of school system properties to build telecommunications antennas. In exchange, the school system receives a one-time site fee, a fee for each carrier added to the tower, and 40 percent of the gross revenue generated by the use, leasing and occupancy of the tower.

Fonfara, other parents and residents who live near the school told board members during their meeting in Annapolis that they're concerned about radio frequency radiation emitted from the tower, and its possible impact on the health of school children. At the very least, speakers said, more research is needed on whether the radiation is harmful.

Jennifer Dwyer told the board her son will start at Shady Side Elementary this fall. Her family moved to Shady Side in March, she said, partially because of the good things they heard about the school.

"Here we are five months later, worrying about whether or not the school board is about to approve a potentially carcinogenic cellphone tower at the behest of some corporation trying to make a buck," Dwyer said.

School system spokeswoman Maneka Monk said the board does not need to vote to approve the tower, but can reject the project if the members wish. It will be on the agenda next month and more discussion is possible.

Verizon and Milestone set up a website, www.shadysideeswireless.com, to address questions about radio frequency radiation. It cites the American Cancer Society's assessment that despite concerns expressed about cell towers and links to cancer "at this time, there is very little evidence to support this idea."

Not everyone who spoke Wednesday was opposed to the tower. Rita Quigley of Shady Side, a teacher's assistant and secretary at the school, said she strongly supports it.

"I have experienced very poor cell service in our peninsula, and we have little to no service at the school," she said. "It's difficult to use a device as an educational tool or as a parental communication tool when we can't use our devices efficiently."

After the meeting, board President Julie Hummer said the board will consider all the comments made during the meeting.

"I love seeing people come out and sharing what they think, and I think they should have a voice in their community ... I can only stress that we do listen and we take it all into account," she said.

Milestone has built five cell towers on school grounds since 2012. Towers were built at Broadneck High School in 2013, the Center of Applied Technology-North in 2014, Magothy and Annapolis middle schools in 2015, and at Corkran Middle School in 2016. Permits are pending for towers at Hebron-Harman Elementary School and at the administration building near Annapolis.

In exchange for leasing space on school grounds, the school system gets a $25,000 fee for each tower site. If the Shady Side tower is approved, a quarter of the fee will go to the school itself, and another quarter will go to the cluster of schools encompassing Shady Side. The school system will also receive $5,000 for each carrier that is added to the tower after the first.

The school system also will receive 40 percent of the gross monthly revenue generated by the leasing, use and occupancy of each tower. The system makes roughly $6,400 a month from the tower at Annapolis Middle, schools spokesman Bob Mosier said.

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