Gilroy school’s new flagpoles turn out to be cellular telephone
transmitters
Gilroy school district authorities Tuesday abruptly ordered
Cingular Wireless to remove a pair of cellular telephone relay
towers that were erected on the Luigi Aprea Fundamental School
campus without the knowledge or authorization of district
trustees.
Gilroy school’s new flagpoles turn out to be cellular telephone transmitters
Gilroy school district authorities Tuesday abruptly ordered Cingular Wireless to remove a pair of cellular telephone relay towers that were erected on the Luigi Aprea Fundamental School campus without the knowledge or authorization of district trustees.
The twin 40-foot towers, which look like and double as flagpoles, were erected Monday after a couple of weeks of preparatory work.
When the public discovered what they were, reaction was faster than a microwave transmission.
Chris Cote, a Gilroy resident who is leading a grassroots campaign to ban any form of transmission tower within 2,500 feet of any home, school or city drinking water supply, led the protest.
Cote, an astronomer who studied under Carl Sagan, is concerned about still unknown effects of long-term exposure to radiation. When he saw cranes lifting the huge towers into place Monday, he knew they weren’t flagpoles.
“It all started clicking. You don’t do that much work for flagpoles,” Cote said. “I went ballistic and started calling everyone I know on the city council and school board.”
Cote said that when he asked about the preparatory work, school staff members told him flagpoles were to be installed.
“This was a colossal error, a despicable action done without authorization, hidden under the American flag. But to their credit, school district officials did the right thing,” Cote said.
Following a meeting Tuesday attended by school district Superintendent Edwin Diaz, Luigi Aprea Principal Sergio Montenegro, district director of facilities Charlie Van Meter, trustee TJ Owens and Cote, the district issued the following statement:
“This letter is to confirm the outcome of our meeting this morning. As I stated in the meeting, although we have received the necessary approval of the Division of the State Architect and have followed FCC (Federal Communications Commission) guidelines for such installation, the decision has been made to terminate the lease agreement with Cingular Wireless and the school district will require Cingular Wireless to remove both flagpoles and all associated transmitting equipment from the school site immediately.”
Diaz said Tuesday that Van Meter signed the lease with Cingular last summer without informing trustees, as required by district policy. He wouldn’t say that he didn’t know about the lease, which is worth $900 a month to the district.
The Cingular Wireless booster stations would receive cell phone signals, increase their power and send them on their way.
“We think we can end the lease with Cingular, but it will be the subject of negotiations,” Diaz said. “It was never a question of safety. Cingular has similar contracts with other school districts.”
An attempt to reach Cingular for comment was unsuccessful.
Trustee Jim Rogers didn’t know about the Cingular lease, but said Tuesday that Diaz did the right thing.
“I don’t know if those rays are harmful. But if there is any doubt, we have to be on the side of the children. I’m surprised they even considered it,” Rogers said. “The best judgment was to terminate the lease.”
Cote was successful recently in getting Gilroy planning commissioners to reject a bid by San Francisco-based Zinc Technologies, LLC, to install a high-frequency tower within 100 feet of his house near Mantelli Drive and Welburn Avenue.
Zinc decided not to appeal the decision to the city council, Cote said.
Encouraged by their victory against Zinc, Cote and supporters began to circulate petitions to ban transmission towers. Cote expects a hearing on the issue before the city council in January or February.
The jury is still out on the effects of long-term exposure to radiation, according to Cote.
Cote has the support, however, of Dr. James L. Grisez, chief of surgery and previously chief of staff at St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, in believing that long exposure to radiation can affect humans.
“There is ample evidence in medical literature to indicate that such a source of electrical energy is hazardous to the health of those living nearby,” Grisez said at the time Cote was fighting the Zinc proposal.
Grisez also lives near the site where Zinc wanted to install a single 80-foot tower on Welburn Hill on top of Reservoir A – the city’s primary source of drinking water.
Cote said there is a growing body of scientific evidence that transmissions from microwave or cellular telephone towers are absorbed by anything in their path.
Absorption of waves affects the body, medical studies show, Cote said. Over time, radiation can alter a person’s DNA by forcing it to divide more rapidly than it should. Ultimately the result can be various forms of cancer, especially in children and fetuses.
“Imagine if no one had learned about the towers at Luigi Aprea,” Cote said. “Although that cell phone band has been approved by the government, students there would have been exposed to radiation five to six hours a day for six to seven school years.”
Better safe than sorry, Cote said.
“At one time, no one was worried about second-hand cigarette smoke. At one time, we thought lead was safe, that asbestos was safe,” Cote said.
