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| Photo credit: sabotagefilmgroup.com Residents near the Margaret Harris Comprehensive School were among the many who opposed the cell towers as soon as they learned what the DeKalb BOE was attempting to do to their small residential area as well as the disabled children who come to their school from all over DeKalb County. |
(click headline for full story and links to relevent video)
At GTCO-ATL, we have been following this controversy since we first learned about it in May 2011. However, if you have news or information to share that we are not aware of that might help us complete the full picture of this attempt by the DeKalb County School Board to deceive the public as well as go around our commissioners, please email us at sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com. Your name will not be published.
According to GTCO-ATL’s understanding of the T-mobile contract, and professional opinion of several attorneys we have consulted with regarding this matter, the extended deadline for T-mobile to secure permits and complete construction has passed.
(please click headline for more...)
What does this mean? Well, as long as everyone is following the letter of the law, it appears that no cell towers will be going up at ANY of our DeKalb County public schools, at least not in the immediate future under the agreement that was voted on during the infamous July 11, 2011 work session.
It was just prior to the board's vote that then-Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson checked with the school system's legal council and confirmed that the "official signature would be affixed" to the contract on the next business day following the vote. And, then-Director of Facilities Steve Donahue, a former principal with an admittedly limited amount of experience or knowledge of the construction industry, confirmed to the board that T-mobile would have two periods of "due diligence" of six months each. That would mean the ending of these two periods would have been July 12, 2012, a full year after the contract was approved and signature affixed.
Therefore, if Mr. Donahue was being truthful about the contracts' contents, and we believe he was because we have read the contract carefully and it is consistent with his remarks, then the public property at each of the 9 schools is no longer legally available to T-mobile for the purpose of operating or placing a telecommunications tower.
And, it is a good thing these towers were not approved as the documents that Steve Donahue DID review and post publically were out of date. The towers being planned for our schools were not up to the specifications required by the industry and would have a higher liklihood of falling over under certain wind conditions as they were planned with "Rev F" technology which is outdated. The industry now supports "Rev G" or higher. We hope this, among other factors, and the local zoning laws were the reasons that any applications, if they were ever submitted, were not approved by the CEO of DeKalb, Burrell Ellis, or the county commissioners.
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| Steve Donahue, Director of Facilities Management for DCSS requests that the board approve the cell towers in July 2011. |
Congratulations Get the Cell Out followers! You have helped us every step of the way by keeping this issue in the limelight with the media, talking about it within your own neighborhoods, responding to comments on various blogs, exposing the astroturfers and blog trolls, speaking out at nearly every single school board meeting for a year straight, speaking out at multiple DeKalb County Board of Commissioners meetings and, most of all, by working together.
We ALL did this together. If you were personally involved in this fight, remain on alert for any construction signs, but we believe, at least for now, that the towers will not go up at ANY school in ANY neighborhood, just as our county ordinances were written to ensure.
"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
For more inspiration from the words of Dr. King, see Wikiquotes here.
For the truth behind the T-mobile Towers: Please read the portions of the transcript below from the school board meeting in which the vote took place and judge for yourself.
Or, click the video link below, and skip ahead to 2:42:40 in the video for the full lead-in to the discussion, or to 2:46:46 in the video for the beginning of the discussion about the permitting and construction plans and the two periods of due diligence that we believe expired on July 12 of this year.
Video link:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLMQ.aspx?indexSessionSKU=lCRWdFhr4yIvXvAIzyBkTA%3d%3d
2:42:40 in the video:Paul Womack (DCSS Board Member and Filling in for Tom Bowen as Chairman for this Meeting. Also, Chairman of the Finance Committee that initiated the cell tower request): T-mobile Wireless Placement Approval.
Womack: Motion by Walker, Seconded by Speaks
Don McChesney (DCSS Board Member): Amendment, please. Remove Meadowview, Brockett, Medlock.
Womack: Dr. Speaks? There’s a second. We need to vote on substitute motion first. Ms. Edler?
Donna Edler (DCSS Board Member): Could Mr. McChesney elaborate on his motion and why that is being made at this time?
McChesney: We have heard of two communities that I’ve heard of (Brockett, Medlock), and another mentioned by a board member (Meadowview by DCSS Board Member Sarah Copeland-Woods). These communities have made it clear what they want and I’m supporting their decision.
(Later vote was 7 - 1 - 1 in favor of the ammendment with Edler against and Bowen absent. The ammendment passed.)
2:46:46 in the video:
Pam Speaks (DCSS Board Member): I wanted to know whether there’s a grace period. Just because you haven’t heard from a community doesn’t mean they are in support or not in support of something. There are still people who may have concerns. Is there a window of time, that they would have a mechanism of letting the district know?
Ramona Tyson (Interim DCSS Superintendent): Only grace period is to pull the item. I want to ask council … The way I understood is that tonight’s approval is a contract to proceed. Is that correct? (she looks at DCSS legal counsel and she gets a yes.)
Womack: I thought there was a 6 month window.
Donahue (returns to the podium): T-mobile has 6 months to act on the request tonight. They have to do the due diligence work to go out and get the soil samples, get the proper permits, get the proper approvals, get everything approved through zoning. If that doesn’t happen in six months, we’ve allotted one option of an additional 6 months. If that doesn’t occur, whatever sites have not been permitted and constructed are no longer available to be used.
Womack: Uh, thank you.
Tyson: Once the signature protocol is affixed to the contract, it is a binding contract is that correct? (asks Gen. council and again gets a yes.)
(more discussion and then the vote, 6 - 2 - 1 in favor. Edler, Jester opposed. Bowen absent so recorded as abstained.)
The VOTE took place July 11, 2011. The memo to proceed was signed July 12, 2011 (as confirmed via Open Records Request by GTCO-ATL).
The end of the 1st 6 months due diligence period was Jan. 12, 2012. The end of the 2nd 6 months due diligence period was July 12, 2012.
Therefore: As of July 13, 2012: The DeKalb County local school properties agreed to by lease, but not properly permitted by the county of DeKalb, are “NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO BE USED!”
Leases No Longer Valid
This conclusion is per Steve Donahue’s own explanation of the contract terms to the BOE at the time the vote took place. It is also backed up by facts that have been obtained by Open Records Requests by Get the Cell Out - Atlanta Chapter to the school board and/or county for the documentation that verifies these claims.
The FCC Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Sec. 704) states that a local authority cannot discriminate among providers when zoning for cell towers. If DeKalb's school board attempts to claim that the contracts were not official until December 2011, they would be in violation of federal law by allowing T-mobile more time than other tower companies are given in order to secure their permits because we have documented proof that they were on campuses perfoming tests of the area as early as September 2011. They would (or should) be in trouble with the FCC and the federal government if they are allowing T-mobile extra time not in their contract in order to get local zoning variances approved as this is not a courtesy made available to other such companies and would be an unfair discrimination between providers.
If you see or hear of any construction at any school site that may be linked to the cell tower contracts, please report it to local law enforcement as the company on school grounds may very well be acting upon a contract that is no longer legally binding. They may have no legal rights to be on the school grounds at all.
You can also report the activity to GTCO-ATL and we will contact legal representation for immediate action. We can be reached at sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com.
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