ThisWeek CW 11/20/2014

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/11/17/residents-school-board-say-no-to-cell-tower.html

SBA Communications tried and failed Nov. 10 to convince residents near Asbury Elementary School that erecting a cell tower on school grounds was a good idea.

All of the approximately two dozen people who attended a public information session about the proposal spoke against it, according to Groveport Madison Board of Education President Bryan Shoemaker.

Board members said last month they considered the plan by Verizon to place a cell tower near the school a dead issue, but SBA Communications officials, representing Verizon, had hoped a public information meeting could convince residents otherwise.

Company officials have said the new tower is needed to accommodate increased demand for cell service.

“I was part of the three of us board members at the meeting, and while it was a small group that came out, it was a loud group, and I think they spoke for many of their community members that they do not want this in their back yard,” Shoemaker said at the school board’s Nov. 12 meeting.

District Treasurer Tony Swartz said if the cell tower were permitted and if the lease negotiations brought in $3,000 a month — an amount he said would be “at the top end” of such agreements — the district could earn about $1 million “over the life of that agreement.”

Swartz said that during this year’s levy campaign, surveys suggested that residents want the district to consider alternative revenue streams. He said the cell tower lease could be one of those alternatives.

Board member Nathan Slonaker thought it was worth having Swartz negotiate with SBA Communications.

“I think we should move forward and see what the money looks like,” Slonaker said. “I think what’s missing is the spectrum, the hundreds, if not thousands, of people out there that would benefit from increased coverage … I don’t want Blacklick Estates to become a black hole in regard to spectrum.”

The other school board members didn’t see the money as being worth the ill will the tower could generate with residents.

“I think if we moved forward, it would do more harm than the money would recoup. I will say I think we should drop this,” Shoemaker said.

Members Libby Gray, Nancy Gillespie and Mary Tedrow agreed.

“I think the goodwill is enough of a reason,” Gillespie said. “I can sympathize. I’ve got one in my backyard and it is ugly.”

Swartz said he would take the message to SBA Communications that the board is not interested in pursuing the project any further. However, he said, this doesn’t prevent the company from returning in the future.

“The cell phone tower is dead at this time,” Shoemaker said.