Cell phone towers, disguised as flagpoles, being removed from
elementary school site
Much to the delight of many parents, local residents and the
Gilroy Unified School District, the controversial flagpole-like
cellular telephone towers at the Luigi Aprea Fundamental School are
being removed today.
Cell phone towers, disguised as flagpoles, being removed from elementary school site
Much to the delight of many parents, local residents and the Gilroy Unified School District, the controversial flagpole-like cellular telephone towers at the Luigi Aprea Fundamental School are being removed today.
“They’re going to go to the site, pull out the antennas, pull out the circuit boards and re-sod the site and landscape anything that needs to be done,” said Gilroy Unified School Superintendent Edwin Diaz. “Then, they’re going to put up two flag poles. They’ve actually being pretty responsible in all of this because it is a big expense to them.”
And a potential public relations disaster for both the school district and Cingular Wireless, which owns the towers.
In a statement issued earlier this week, Cingular said the following:
“We understand that some residents may have concerns regarding emissions at this particular site…. The consensus of the scientific community is that public-level exposure to levels of RF from wireless antennas is not hazardous to human health.”
Alarm over installation first came to the forefront when Chris Cote, a Gilroy resident leading a campaign to ban any form of transmission towers within 2,500 feet of any home, school or city drinking water supply, notified the district of potential health risks the towers pose to anyone in close proximity of them. The decision to install the relay towers, disguised as flagpoles, had been made without Diaz’ input.
“Cote caught my attention on the whole issue,” said Diaz.
Cote’s efforts also caught the attention of parents concerned for their children’s safety.
“These went up without any notification to the community,” said Wendy Harrington, with two children at Luigi Aprea. “I didn’t know they were going up or anything about their dangers until I read it in the paper. The district needs to communicate better than this.”
According to the district, the towers were placed on the campus two weeks ago without knowledge or authorization of district trustees.
“A staff member signed an agreement to put them up in exchange for a rental fee of $900 a month,” said Diaz. “Now they have to negotiate to put them somewhere else, I guess. But I don’t know where they’re going.”
Diaz told The Pinnacle last Thursday that District Director of Facilities Charlie Van Meter signed the lease with Cingular last summer without informing trustees, as required by district policy.
The Cingular Wireless booster stations would receive cell phone signals, increase their power and send them on their way.
Cote is concerned about the still unknown effects of long-term exposure to radiation and has said in the past that similar towers by constantly emitting radiation can, overtime cause a person’s DNA to alter, which can lead to cancer and other deadly diseases, a relatively new theory with which many medical professionals agree.
