Walnut Creek district superintendent recommends “no” on Walnut Heights school wireless antenna proposal

Following what was described as a raucous community meeting last Wednesday-- crowded with 100 parents and residents, concerned about a proposal to build a wireless antenna near the Walnut Heights playing field--Superintendent Patty Wool is recommending that the school’s board reject the proposal.

In an e-mail to the district community, she explains her reasons:

Dear Walnut Creek School District Parents and Community Members,

On January 20, a meeting was held at Walnut Heights Elementary to discuss the possibility of erecting a wireless antenna tree at the school. The Board wanted to hold a meeting so that the public could receive information and make comments concerning the potential tower. I plan to recommend that the Board reject this antenna tree at Walnut Heights for the following two reasons:

 --Clearwire's representative who spoke to the Board in December was clear and cogent.  However when this gentleman was not available, the company flew in a substitute presenter from Chicago.  He met with Stuart House, our Director of Facilities, and felt that he and his fellow Clearwire representative were ready for the meeting.  Clearly, they were not:  the Clearwire men were ill-prepared and offered no concrete information that facilitated the discussion.  Therefore, Clearwire is not a company that I can recommend to the Board that the district should do business with.

--At the meeting three key issues from the community/parent speakers surfaced:

a)    The aesthetics of the tree,

b)    The concern for the health of students and adults, and

c)     The antenna tree's effect on property values.

Whether these issues were confirmed or not, the Walnut Creek School District is cognizant of the apprehension expressed by many at the meeting.

Therefore, the item will appear on the February 1 Board Agenda with a recommendation to reject this antenna tree.

Again, thank you to parents and community for taking the time to offer your comments.

Another wireless antenna proposed for a Walnut Creek neighborhood

Wow! Is there something in the water? Or in the electromagnetic field around Walnut Creek?

Just as some some parents and residents in the Walnut Heights elementary school neighborhood are protesting the erection of a wireless antenna near the school's playing fields and nature area, AT&T is asking the City of Walnut Creek to allow it to build a 28-foot "monopole" wireless antenna, "disguised as a broadleaf tree" at the intersection of San Luis Road and Keaveny Court.

The specific site for the tower is the grounds of St. Stephen's Catholic Church.

Hmm, is there something about organizations, like public schools and churches, looking for ways to earn some extra revenue? In these tough economic times? I know the school district, like many other public school districts, is really struggling with ongoing state budget cuts. I have also read various articles about how Catholic church membership is declining in the United States and Western Europe. I would assume a decline in membership might hurt the Church's bottom line in America--though maybe St. Stephen's is a thriving parish.

Anyway, Walnut Creek's Community Development Department recommends that the Planning Commission--whose members will hear about the proposal next Thursday evening--give it a thumbs up.

Development Department staff members say the proposal meets the city's various legal requirements for the constructon of wireless antennas in the city, including those encoded in the General Plan.

For example, planners say the proposed antenna:

--won't be located within 100 feet of a major ridgeline.
--will have a non-reflective finish ... it will, planners say, be built to look like a tree (?).
--won't have artificial lighting, or be accessible to the general public, including mischievious Walnut Creek kids who would tag it with graffiti.
--will, most importantly, not pose any health risk to the public. According to planners, the application submitted indicated that "the radio frequency output does not exceed FCC standards for Maximum Permissible Exposures."

Read more about the St. Stephen's Catholic Church wireless proposal to the city here.

You can also catch up with the ongoing debate about the Walnut Heights antenna proposal by reading this story in the Contra Costa Times.  In fact, according to the Times' Elisabeth Nardi, some 100 people showed up at a meeting that the Walnut Creek School District hosted Wednesday evening. Apparently, those people wanted to voice their concerns about the proposed 37-foot antenna tower at Walnut Heights:

At a sometimes raucous meeting this week, Walnut Creek parents likened the antenna, which would emit radio waves 24 hours a day, to a "science experiment."

"I don't want my kids used as an experiment," said John Johnson. "Wi-Fi is not that important."

It will be interesting to see what feelings and opinions this other wireless antenna proposal provokes...

Wireless antenna at Walnut Heights "contingent" upon Wednesday's meeting

Here's a notice from Superintendent Patty Wool about Wednesday evening's meeting, regarding the proposal to construct a wireless antenna behind the nature area at Walnut Heights Elementary... She's inviting the entire Walnut Creek School District community to join in the discussion.

Is it just me, or is there something contradictory about using "wireless antenna" and "nature area" in the same sentence? ... Not that I've formed any opinion about this issue.

Others, who commented on my earlier post, are much better informed than me, and I would suggest you read what they have to say.  Basically, some Walnut Heights school parents are concerned that this wireless tower would pose health risks and create an eyesore, thereby lowering property values.

Here is what the superintendent has to say:

Dear Walnut Creek School District Community,

Tomorrow night, January 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the Walnut Heights Multi-purpose room, we will hold a meeting to offer information to the community and parents about a possible wireless antenna being installed behind the nature area at Walnut Heights. The superintendent will facilitate. Stuart House, WCSD Director of Facilities & Maintenace, and Brian VanAsten from Clear Wire will give information. We will then hear thoughts and concerns from parents and community.

The Board, in the last board meeting, stated that the construction of a wireless antenna would be contingent upon the outcome of this meeting. We would invite anyone who is interested to attend.


Sincerely,
Patricia Wool, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Walnut Creek School District

Meeting Wednesday for Walnut Heights parents and neighbors to air concerns about new wireless tower and possible radiation risks

Walnut Creek School District officials will hear Wednesday evening from Walnut Heights Elementary parents and neighbors about a plan to install a large wireless antenna near the school’s playing fields and private homes.

The antenna will allow an internet provider, Washington-based Clearwire Corp., to convert existing wired broadband Internet customers to its wireless system. According to neighbors, the school district hopes to earn about $40 per day from allowing the antenna on its property. The project was discussed at the district's January 4 board meeting.

Some residents opposing the project say these wireless broadcast Internet antennas are like a cell phone broadcasting towers, “but typically more powerful.” They are concerned about potential health hazards associated with allowing this kind of tower, one that would emit electromagnetic radiation 24 hours a day, to be built near a school.

They note that cell phone towers themselves, as a general rule, are not placed near schools, according to the brochure that opponents are handing out around the neighborhood. “Growing evidence shows that even small emissions from cell phone towers are dangerous to human health … and studies show that living within a quarter mile of such antennas increases cancer three to four times.”

“Studies suggest that children should be kept at least 1,300 feet from such emitters” and that “Los Angeles County is stopping all such installations near schools,” the brochure says.

One resident of Bellows Court, which runs directly east of the Walnut Heights school playing field, e-mailed the school district, expressing concerns about possible health risks. He said that the proposed tower would go up 350 feet from his bedroom window.

He also warned of a decline in real estate home values in the neighborhood, because of potential health risks and because the tower would be unattractive.

I e-mailed the Walnut Creek District’s Superintendent Patty Wool and Director of Construction and Maintenance Stuart House for more information about the project, including any reports or studies that have so far been produced. I didn’t receive anything by the weekend, other than a notice from House about the Wednesday evening meeting which will take place 6:30 p.m. in the Walnut Heights multi-purpose room.