Letters to the Editor

Victory! No Cell Towers on School Grounds!

The head of Get the Cell Out - Atlanta Chapter thanks DeKalb County residents for voting no on a referendum regarding cell phone towers on public school grounds.

Yes! You voted no! Thank you, DeKalb County voters! So far, 71,690 voters have agreed! No cell towers on our school grounds! Victory by 60 percent or more! The resolution may not have legal bearing, but it has a moral lesson that should not be ignored. And, that leads us to the next order of business: the nine approved schools that have now been reduced to eight total signed lease agreements. When will T-Mobile get the message that we do not want them to build cell towers on our school grounds? When will they exercise the "out clause" that only they can do and escape any futher financial obligation to the school system as the inability to gain a permit is a just cause for the lease termination. They wrote the lease, so they likely expected…

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'Non-Binding' Cell Tower Vote to Go Before Residents July 31

The July 31 vote will have little effect on tower proposals at the nine schools already agreed to T-Mobile leases, including Briarlake Elementary, Lakeside High and Margaret Harris Comprehensive schools.

Residents will be able to vote this month whether they like the DeKalb County School System placing cell phone towers on school properties. The vote won't necessarily have any affect on the school system's policies, but it could at least give school board members an idea of voter sentiment, according to CrossRoadsNews, in a story published three days ago. From the story: The referendum was created by House Bill 1299, sponsored by state Reps. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates), Michele Henson (D-Stone Mountain), Rahn Mayo (D-Decatur) and other DeKalb legislators. Drenner, a six-term representative and a radiation physicist, embraced the referendum after House Bill 1197 which she sponsored to ban towers from other school grounds failed. …

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Cheryl Miller

9:50 am on Monday, September 10, 2012

Also important to note that School Board Representative Paul Womack, who was the one pushing for these towers to go through before a Superintendent was hired and when school was out for Summer, has real estate investments as well as family and friends in the Oak Grove community. It wouldn't be difficult to see how a few of them might be persuaded to vote "yes" to cell towers at schools while …   more ›

Walker Sticks to Position on Cell Phone Tower Issue

DeKalb County Board of Education Chairman Gene Walker defended this week the school system's plans to build revenue-generating cell phone towers on several school sites in the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area.

Gene Walker, the DeKalb County Board of Education's chairman and District 9 representative, defended this week the school system's plans to build revenue-generating cell phone towers on several school sites across the county, including the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area. From an article published Wednesday in Neighbor Newspapers: Meanwhile, Board of Education Chair Eugene Walker expressed his dismay at the commissioners’ handling of and take on the issue. Commissioners overstepped their bounds and are being disrespectful of the school board, he said. “We’re not circumventing anything,” Walker added. “We’re operating on the authority we have. “And, clearly, we have different opinions about the possible effect of cell towers … we’re …

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Cheryl Miller

12:16 pm on Friday, April 13, 2012

FYI, the extended deadline on their due diligence periods is, by our calculations, July 11, 2012. At that point they either must file for the permits or back out of the deal because they have big money due at that point per their contract with the school system. T-mobile, of course, wrote an "out clause" for themselves, but the boad wasn't bright enough to suggest one might be a good idea for …   more ›

Northlake Mall Announces Several New Stores

Shoe Department is expanding, and the mall plans to open a 4 Ever Young apparel store, a Subway, a Best Buy Mobile and a T-Mobile store.

Northlake Mall welcomed a new Best Buy Mobile store Wednesday and plans to open four other stores soon. The mall announced the following Wednesday: Encore by Shoe Department, the popular accessories store carrying shopper favorite brands like Nike, New Balance and Timberland, is expanding into a fully renovated 17,900 square foot storefront. This is the only Encore store in Georgia, and it is located on the lower level next to Perfumania. The expansion is slated to be completed this month. 4 Ever Young, a local store specializing in trendy juniors apparel, jewelry and accessories, will open in April in a 11,625 square foot storefront near between Ashley Stewart and Sears Upper Level. Best Buy Mobile is located near New York & Company on …

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Sally

7:55 am on Friday, April 13, 2012

Hmm, I'm thinking you can probably look back and find that Simon bought that mall probably early 90's. It's gone down hill ever since then.   more ›

County Commissioners Seek to Kill School Cell Towers

The board asked the county Thursday to deny permits to T-Mobile, which, under an agreement with the school system, plans to build nine cell phone towers on school properties countywide, including Briarlake Elementary and Lakeside High schools.

The DeKalb County Board of Education's plans to build cell phone towers at nine schools countywide, including Briarlake Elementary and Lakeside High, violates a county ordinance, and building permits for those projects should be denied, county commissioners said Thursday. In a letter to county CEO Burrell Ellis, signed by all seven commissioners, the board said the school system and T-Mobile are illegally trying to circumvent county zoning regulations through a state law that says government property is exempt from local zoning ordiances if the property is being used for a governmental purpose. The letter represents the first public pushback from county officials on an issue that has enflamed some vocal residents of communities across the …

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Cell Tower Legislation Needs Your Support

State Rep. Karla Drenner offers a chance for a Hail Mary that might just save our cell tower schools.

A hearing was held last Tuesday, Feb. 21, by state Rep. Karla Drenner, D - Avondales Estates, to gauge the public support or opposition to proposed legislation that would limit or ban cellphone towers from being constructed near schools and daycare centers.  A good play-by-play of this hearing was logged live by North Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch. You can read it here. I agree wholeheartedly with Drenner's statement that the only course of action that should be considered right now is what she calls "prudent avoidance." If you can do something just as easily with a wired connection to the Internet as you can when you are wireless, choose the wired route every time. If you have young children and can avoid being near areas that are high in …

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Briarlake Cell Tower to Eliminate Instructional Space?

A recent column in a blog covering the school system said the elementary school will lose playground space or an outdoor environmental classroom to make way for the tower.

Residents Protest School Cell Phone Towers at Drenner Hearing

State Rep. Karla Drenner hosted a hearing regarding incoming cell phone towers on school sites in DeKalb County.

A group of mostly frustrated DeKalb County residents packed a legislative hearing room in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday to protest the construction of cell phone towers on several county school sites. The hearing was organized by state Rep. Karla Drenner, D-District 86, about a week after the legislator said she was made aware of residents still protesting the DeKalb County School System's contract with T-Mobile, which was approved in July. The contract will place towers at a number of schools, including Lakeside High School, Briarlake Elementary School and Margaret Harris Comprehensive School in the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area. North Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch blogged live from the hearing.

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Noel

11:01 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012

If you truly "don't like the idea of cell towers on school grounds" then show a little respect for the people who feel the same way instead of making assumptions about a wide variety of people who do not deserve your snap judgment or petty insults. It takes a pretty cold person to try and find fault with Moms (and Dads, too, by the way) wanting to protect their children and the sanctity of their …   more ›

Briarlake Parents Unsure of Next Move in Cell Tower Fight

With the DeKalb County School System determined to let T-Mobile build a tower at Briarlake Elementary School, parents there aren't left with many options.

Parents at Briarlake Elementary School upset with the forthcoming construction of a cell phone tower on school property are unsure of their next move as the school system and T-Mobile move forward with their plans, a PTA board member said. "We had hoped that [DeKalb County School System Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson] would have given this issue some time," said Stephanie Byrne, a Briarlake Elementary PTA board member. "She has decided that this is not worth her time." Atkinson and a school system spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month that the deal between the system and T-Mobile was considered done, and the system was not open to challenges. "We respect the opinions about this," school spokesman Walter Woods said to …

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Cheryl Miller

2:27 am on Tuesday, December 6, 2011

If you want to know what is really outdated: try the FCC Telecommunications Act of 1996. This is the gospel that we are all being held accountable to when clearly the use of cell phones both in duration of time, age of the end user and widespread use throughout our communities when "mobile" or at home has changed. Should the safety standards be updated to reflect what we know today so that we are…   more ›