01/13/2004 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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location was Porter and Dover Center. Mr. Hreha said based on today's technology, Sprint is saying the proposed site would work even though that was the ideal site 3 or 4 years ago. Mr. Fannin said that has no bearing. The physics of propagation has remained the same. Mr. Hreha then asked if moving 20-30 feet across the creek would make a difference from an RF standpoint. Mr. Fannin said it absolutely would not. Audience Questions and Comments Mrs. Joan Puinno came forward to address the Commission. She said she lives in the cul-de-sac that is right up against the football field. She said she has gathered a lot of information from the Internet and from making about 200 phones calls concerning cell towers. She realizes she cannot talk about environmental issues so she will now get into property values. She worked with the librarian at the Fairview library to gather information. She then read from an article in the Seattle Times from October 2003, which addressed property tax assessments. She indicated she contacted realtors in our area and was told there is no documented proof yet on property values. She asked the board members if anyone knows how many cell towers, monopoles or antennas are in the City of North Olmsted. Mr. Koeth replied there is one at Clague Park. Mrs. Puinno said there is one on the west end, one on the apartment building. Mr. Koeth said there are two on the building and they approved the one on the west end. Mr. Spalding said there is one at Clague and Brookpark. Mrs. Puinno said she talked with Mr. Rymarczyk who indicated he was unsure how many cell towers are in the City. She said her point is there should be some way to get all that information. Are they at the beginning of the cell phone invasion into North Olmsted, or are they at the end, she asked. There is new technology out there for Sprint. There is a completely self-contained PCS sending and receiving station. It just needs to be plugged in to a 120-volt power supply and it needs a telephone line and it's ready to go. It can be placed on the side of a building or a telephone pole. It can be put 30 feet in the air or a few feet above ground. It covers an area of 1-2 miles in circumference, and there are no equipment enclosures. There is no noise. She said best of all, it is just 26 inches hijh, 16 inches wide, and 6 inches deep. She asked why Sprint is not suggesting that option. She said perhaps it is easier or cheaper. Or the carrier is beholden to the antenna manufacturers who have stockpiles of the monopoles. She said Sprint came in and said they have a gap in coverage and the City just accepted that. The City has no experts to refute what Sprint or any other carrier brings to them. She said her recominendation to the board is to have the Mayor appoint soineone, possibly a volunteer, to handle the cell phone situation. It is not going away and there are a lot of unanswered questions. Mi•. Chris Searl stepped forward and said in reference to the Commission's suggestion on an alternative site across from the creek, as he stated at the last meeting, he is part of an organization called ACIG, and they are working closely with the School Board and the Eagle Boosters to renovate the stadium. They have had numerous meetings and they do have plans and are moving forward. He said to his recollection, he believes the stadium lights are the original lights, which makes them 40-50 years old. Those lights will definitely need to be replaced. They can say it's not in the budget this year but it needs to be done. For one thing, they are not very safe. They cost a lot of money to operate. It has been talked about through the Board that the ideal situation is to have 4 poles. It takes 4 new poles to light that stadium up, with the state-of-the-art halogen bulbs or whatever they will use. It would reduce the 8 poles to 4. The problem he sees is by moving the 1 pole across the creek it will serve no purpose for the eventual new poles. In essence, there will be 5 poles; 4 they will need for new lights and 1 fifth pole that is 20 feet away from where the light pole will have to be for the stadium. The extra pole will serve no purpose and stand out like a sore thumb. He thinks the 4 poles are sufficient and using the Sprint pole for the light will come into play nicely with the renovation of the stadium. Mr. Jam Hunt came forward and indicated he lives on the east end of town by the cell tower at I-480 and Brookpark. He has not seen his property value diminish. It has gone up. He said he formerly lived in Berea in the early 90's and they had the CEI towers that bordered Berea and Olmsted Falls in his yard. He noticed a$30,000 increase in his property value in 5 years. He does not think that fighting the property value war here is called for. He also belongs to the ACIG group and they would like to see this pole go up where it has been suggested. It can be utilized not only for lighting, but would eliminate a fifth pole. Mrs. Hoff-Smith said she wants to 9