Post by Chuck McCue on May 31, 2022 17:06:47 GMT -5
The city of Atlantic Beach signed a $31,500 annual contract with Verizon to place a new mobile phone tower at11th Street Cell Phone Tower in Atlantic Beach, FL
There are some constituents forming a resistance, Here is what Lisa Griffis wrote:
"An Annual $31,500 Gain for the City Means Millions in Losses for the Community.
Mayor Ellen Glasser signed a $31,500 annual contract ($2,625 a month) with Verizon Wireless to put a monopole Cell Phone Tower in to replace the Water Tower at 11th street in the Selva Linkside neighborhood. It will be as tall as the Water Tower. This will also be happening “eventually” to the water tower that is visible from the Atlantic Beach Country Club, although no estimate for the timeframe was given. We need to set the standard now that we will not allow a stand-alone “monopole” cell phone tower to be erected in our residential communities.
For background- there are antennas currently on the water tower, they are hidden along the side. I live underneath it and did not realize what they were. You don’t notice them because you just see a water tower. Once the water tower is removed, and a stand-alone cell phone tower is in it’s place, we will have all the financial impacts sited below. Because people will look at it and right away know that it’s a cell phone tower and as you will see, no one likes that.
According to Environmental Health Trust, research indicates that over 90% of home buyers and renters are less interested in properties near cell towers and would pay less for a property in close vicinity to cellular antennas. In addition, documentation of a price drop up to 20% is found in multiple surveys and published articles cited on their website. (https://ehtrust.org/cell-phone-towers-lower-property-values-documentation-research/)
While the Environmental Health Trust article(s) noted a home’s value can be impacted up to 20%, conservatively, studies showed a decrease of 10% within visibility and a decrease of 2.5 % within 0.45 miles of the tower.
This Cell Phone Tower will be as large as the Water Tower. Currently approximately 100 homes/townhomes in the area have a view of the Water Tower. Neighborhood comps have recently sold for $685,000- $700,000.
This means the cell phone tower will decrease the value of those surrounding 100 homes by between $6,850,000 to $7,000,000. If it is indeed the worst case scenario of 20%- that would be a decrease in the value of those homes totaling between $13,700,000 to $15,000,000.
As to health concerns, The American Cancer Society reports that while at this time, there’s no strong evidence that exposure to RF waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effects that this does not mean that the RF waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe. And that most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects. (https://www.cancer.org/healthy/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/cellular-phone-towers.html)
This means we are being made part of the experiment.
A story from 2019 details where out of California several students at Weston Elementary School were diagnosed with cancer. The elementary school has a telecommunications tower on its campus. While Sprint stated that they absolutely do not believe the tower caused the cancer, the location was moved away from the school. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cell-tower-shut-down-some-california-parents-link-to-several-cases-of-childhood-cancer/)
The truth is, we just don’t know and I am not willing to be a part of the experiment for a $31,500 annual gain for the city that could impact our home values by millions of dollars.
There is very little mention of the cell phone tower in the January 25, 2021 meeting in which the idea to remove the water tower in favor of pumps and coincidentally approves a gigantic cell phone tower was presented to the City Commission. This is not a like for like change, it is a major change that deserves an analysis of the cost versus benefits for the City Commission to make an educated decision about what they are voting on. As a matter of fact, it is only mentioned in one sentence as a list item as one step of the process. No where else is it discussed or detailed in any way within the 44 page engineering report.
o Here is the staff report/agenda item published in the Jan. 25, 2021, City Commission meeting agenda: coab.civicweb.net/document/23400/Engineering%20Report%20and%20Overview%20of%20Plan%20-%20Water%20Tr.pdf?handle=D3EB9013A0124B14B57D9E0D6B386893
In the meeting video, one commissioner asked a question about the tower to which they were told that Verizon Wireless pays a “significant fee to have that”. At 14 minutes and 30 seconds of item three during the January 25, 2021 meeting one city commissioner questioned what the “monopole” would cost the city- to which the presenter stated that they would be negotiating a lease with Verizon in which they would “squeeze a little”. If $31,500 annually is a “significant fee” then I think we can all agree that a $7,000,000 decline in value to our community is catastrophic. That costs the city quite a bit. In addition it is never mentioned that the “monopole for the antennas” is actually a gigantic cell phone tower in which the city has no control over what it looks like or what is added to it. The presenter also states that these antennas serve the entire beach area up to the north end of the beach. If it is so broad, it can easily be moved from a residential area minimizing any negative affects. The presenter also references that people hardly see or notice the current water tower- this is false.
o Here is the Jan. 25, 2021, meeting video: atlanticbeachfl.swagit.com/play/01262021-724
How can this be properly approved if it wasn’t factually presented?
o Here are the Jan. 25, 2021, meeting minutes: weblink.coab.us/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=1018832&dbid=0&repo=CityofAtlanticBeach
Recently in Ponte Vedra Beach a cell phone tower was moved due to its close location to a school. My children and others in the area will be spending a lot more time at close proximity than those in a school. This tower will also be within a quarter mile of Russell Park. www.govtech.com/education/florida-parents-raise-concerns-about-5g-tower-near-school.html
Email electedofficials@coab.us and let them know how you feel. Also, please sign the petition and make your voices heard!"
There are some constituents forming a resistance, Here is what Lisa Griffis wrote:
"An Annual $31,500 Gain for the City Means Millions in Losses for the Community.
Mayor Ellen Glasser signed a $31,500 annual contract ($2,625 a month) with Verizon Wireless to put a monopole Cell Phone Tower in to replace the Water Tower at 11th street in the Selva Linkside neighborhood. It will be as tall as the Water Tower. This will also be happening “eventually” to the water tower that is visible from the Atlantic Beach Country Club, although no estimate for the timeframe was given. We need to set the standard now that we will not allow a stand-alone “monopole” cell phone tower to be erected in our residential communities.
For background- there are antennas currently on the water tower, they are hidden along the side. I live underneath it and did not realize what they were. You don’t notice them because you just see a water tower. Once the water tower is removed, and a stand-alone cell phone tower is in it’s place, we will have all the financial impacts sited below. Because people will look at it and right away know that it’s a cell phone tower and as you will see, no one likes that.
According to Environmental Health Trust, research indicates that over 90% of home buyers and renters are less interested in properties near cell towers and would pay less for a property in close vicinity to cellular antennas. In addition, documentation of a price drop up to 20% is found in multiple surveys and published articles cited on their website. (https://ehtrust.org/cell-phone-towers-lower-property-values-documentation-research/)
While the Environmental Health Trust article(s) noted a home’s value can be impacted up to 20%, conservatively, studies showed a decrease of 10% within visibility and a decrease of 2.5 % within 0.45 miles of the tower.
This Cell Phone Tower will be as large as the Water Tower. Currently approximately 100 homes/townhomes in the area have a view of the Water Tower. Neighborhood comps have recently sold for $685,000- $700,000.
This means the cell phone tower will decrease the value of those surrounding 100 homes by between $6,850,000 to $7,000,000. If it is indeed the worst case scenario of 20%- that would be a decrease in the value of those homes totaling between $13,700,000 to $15,000,000.
As to health concerns, The American Cancer Society reports that while at this time, there’s no strong evidence that exposure to RF waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effects that this does not mean that the RF waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe. And that most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects. (https://www.cancer.org/healthy/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/cellular-phone-towers.html)
This means we are being made part of the experiment.
A story from 2019 details where out of California several students at Weston Elementary School were diagnosed with cancer. The elementary school has a telecommunications tower on its campus. While Sprint stated that they absolutely do not believe the tower caused the cancer, the location was moved away from the school. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cell-tower-shut-down-some-california-parents-link-to-several-cases-of-childhood-cancer/)
The truth is, we just don’t know and I am not willing to be a part of the experiment for a $31,500 annual gain for the city that could impact our home values by millions of dollars.
There is very little mention of the cell phone tower in the January 25, 2021 meeting in which the idea to remove the water tower in favor of pumps and coincidentally approves a gigantic cell phone tower was presented to the City Commission. This is not a like for like change, it is a major change that deserves an analysis of the cost versus benefits for the City Commission to make an educated decision about what they are voting on. As a matter of fact, it is only mentioned in one sentence as a list item as one step of the process. No where else is it discussed or detailed in any way within the 44 page engineering report.
o Here is the staff report/agenda item published in the Jan. 25, 2021, City Commission meeting agenda: coab.civicweb.net/document/23400/Engineering%20Report%20and%20Overview%20of%20Plan%20-%20Water%20Tr.pdf?handle=D3EB9013A0124B14B57D9E0D6B386893
In the meeting video, one commissioner asked a question about the tower to which they were told that Verizon Wireless pays a “significant fee to have that”. At 14 minutes and 30 seconds of item three during the January 25, 2021 meeting one city commissioner questioned what the “monopole” would cost the city- to which the presenter stated that they would be negotiating a lease with Verizon in which they would “squeeze a little”. If $31,500 annually is a “significant fee” then I think we can all agree that a $7,000,000 decline in value to our community is catastrophic. That costs the city quite a bit. In addition it is never mentioned that the “monopole for the antennas” is actually a gigantic cell phone tower in which the city has no control over what it looks like or what is added to it. The presenter also states that these antennas serve the entire beach area up to the north end of the beach. If it is so broad, it can easily be moved from a residential area minimizing any negative affects. The presenter also references that people hardly see or notice the current water tower- this is false.
o Here is the Jan. 25, 2021, meeting video: atlanticbeachfl.swagit.com/play/01262021-724
How can this be properly approved if it wasn’t factually presented?
o Here are the Jan. 25, 2021, meeting minutes: weblink.coab.us/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=1018832&dbid=0&repo=CityofAtlanticBeach
Recently in Ponte Vedra Beach a cell phone tower was moved due to its close location to a school. My children and others in the area will be spending a lot more time at close proximity than those in a school. This tower will also be within a quarter mile of Russell Park. www.govtech.com/education/florida-parents-raise-concerns-about-5g-tower-near-school.html
Email electedofficials@coab.us and let them know how you feel. Also, please sign the petition and make your voices heard!"