Tinton Falls Bd. of Ed. votes down cell tower
Vote ends controversy over placing tower on school grounds
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer
After a year of discussions and deliberations, the Tinton Falls Board of Education (BOE) has voted against placing a cell tower on a Sycamore Avenue school property.

Opponents of the Tinton Falls cell tower proposal carried signs that expressed their concerns.

The 7-2 vote ended a few months of controversy fueled by parents and teachers who were opposed to a proposed cell tower on Mahala F. Atchison School grounds.

"The cell tower issue has gone down," said board President Peter Karavites after the vote.

He said that the cell tower issue did not get voted down because of radio frequency and health issues.

The cell tower became a Board of Education issue after the borough tried unsuccessfully to locate a site for a revenue-generating cell tower on municipal property. The borough then approached the Board of Education about locating a tower on school property.

BOE Business Administrator Tamar R. Sydney-Gens said the revenue generated by the tower, which would be shared by the school district and the borough, would be $30,000 per carrier, or $90,000 if there were three carriers.

FSD Enterprises wireless telecommunications consultant Declan O' Scanlon was contracted by the BOE to advise, negotiate and answer questions about locating a cell tower on school property.

The cell tower would be located on property that the borough is leasing from the school board.

The plan to locate a tower on school property touched off opposition from both residents and staff at the Atchison school.

Concerned parents brought their own professionals to give another perspective on the cell tower at a contentious BOE meeting Oct. 9.

After a petition opposing the cell tower was circulated on school grounds, faculty and staff at the Atchison school were told in an e-mail from the interim superintendent they could not sign or circulate a petition of a nonschool or educational nature, like the cell tower, on school grounds.

In response, the Tinton Falls Education Association (TFEA) said an unfair labor practices (ULP) charge had been filed against the BOE with the state.

On Monday, board members addressed some of the criticisms directed at the board over the cell tower issue.

"There are no credible peer research studies or published evidence to date that any children will be at any higher risk than anyone else or any adult … because there isn't a harmful risk to this," said board member Sandra Lopez before the vote.

She said that it had taken the board one year to get to the point of accepting bids and voting on a resolution.

The board had received three bids and had members vote to approve the resolution. The lead carrier spot would have been awarded to New York SMSA Limited Partnership doing business as Verizon Wireless of Branchburg for $31,478.

Board members expressed concerns over what they said were disturbing emails received in the weeks leading up to the cell tower vote Monday.

"This BOE looked into the cell tower to save [teacher] positions for your children and what do we get? Like most of these board members said, I hope none of you get the e-mails that we got in your lives," said Karavites.

Board member Michael Laffey addressed fliers that had been circulated sponsored by the TFEA that read, "Table the Tower!"

The flier also said the BOE was rushing a vote on the proposed cell tower.

"I wish that the union had come to us much earlier in this process," said Laffey. "If the union would rather have an adversarial than a collaborative relationship I can do adversarial.

"But before they pull a stunt like this again they should consider what type of relationship is in the best interest of its membership and of the children in this district," he advised. "I think it is a collaborative one but the ball is in your court now."

Lopez said she holds Cherie Ronan, the TFEA president, responsible for the dissemination of the fliers that "caused fear in the community."

Ronan commended the board for their decision to vote down the tower.

She had said previously that there hadn't been input from teachers "because when that petition came out and that letter came from the superintendent … we really had our hands tied."

BOE Attorney Martin Barger said he had checked with the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), the organization that would receive such a charge, and was told the charge had not been filed against the BOE.

A spokesperson for PERC verified Nov. 13 that no charge has been filed.

NJEA associate director for public relations communications Kathryn Coulibaly responded Tuesday to the issue of the ULP charge.

"The association has definitely signed the paperwork for the ULP and consulted with an attorney for the association in order to proceed with that," said Coulibaly.

"The association is absolutely going forward with it and they have done everything that they need to do."

The TFEA fliers also included an email campaign for parents and taxpayers to write to BOE members.

"There's something you can do: e-mail the BOE and tell them to table the tower. Let's get all the information we need to make an informed decision that protects our students, our schools and our community," stated the TFEA fliers, which included all board members' e-mail addresses.

"It's not a matter of when you joined the fight but thank God you joined the fight," said Jim Bruzzano, Sycamore Avenue, who also said that some of the board members needed to develop a thicker skin when dealing with these issues.

"There may have been facts and emotions involved in it, but you know that's how this country was born. These people behind me are here today for one reason - they care about their kids and whether they showed up last month or a year ago shouldn't make a difference."

Bruzzano also said that he believed the BOE could do a better job of notifying the public about board meetings and other issues in the district.

Students from Monmouth Regional High School were in attendance at the meeting showing their support to the teachers and the residents who had campaigned against the tower.

Senior Michael Lee, the committee leader for LIFE, for Living In and For the Environment, presented the BOE with a petition with 150 signatures from Monmouth Regional students and parents opposing the proposed cell tower.

After the vote Karavites addressed what he said should be of major concern in the district.

"This district has major problems ladies and gentleman, it's called Naval Weapons Station [NWS] Earle. I would appreciate instead of "Table the Tower" we have "Stop Earle," he said referring to the TFEA fliers