Telecommunications Town Hall Meeting Two
April 22 at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road.
--NOTES
1. Miguel Chavez, City Councelor, Welcome
2. Arthur Firstenburg, Telecommunications Activist - history of cell tower citizens groups in Santa Fe since 2000.
Arthur read from a newsletter put out by the citizens group.
• “they wanted to put in hundreds of cell towers, “ said Mar Deblanco in a newsletter published in 2000 by the citizens task force. Three women: Mar Deblanco and Cili Solomon and one other woman. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this work.
3. Azlan White, Telecommunications Activist –Summary of Town Hall Meeting One
• We are grateful the city attorney’s office is listening to our suggestions, so you can know these meetings are effective in participating in the code-writing process. This is great news for the citizens of Santa Fe, New Mexico, to feel such a true Democratic process in place. We look forward to our continued collaboration, as a citizens group, to continue to advise the city on the telecommunications code revision to ensure things like: private property owners will have a public review before equipment is placed near their home.
4. Jeanne Price, –update on ordinance refinements and changes. Schedule is changing. Meeting has been delayed until June 9th.
5. Public Comment:
Sara Vacha : Question: “Where will the antennae’s be located? [for DAS, Distributed Antennae System, Wifi in neighborhoods]
Response from Jeanne: (paraphrased) On telephone poles, or if there are no poles, poles will be built.
Monika Stenhdl: “We don’t need many gas or water companies, so why do we need many telecommunications services?”
SOLUTION: to establish a kind of public corporation who can oversee the whole telecommunications infrastucture.
Bill Bruno: Overhead: one page 45 of ordinance:
Land use is crossed out. Example of complex questions involved in this telecommunications code.
1996 Telecommunications Act: this law is unconstitutional and should continue to be challenged.
Arianna – Corporate Accountability
Cell phone companies are finding ways to avoid corporate responsibility. Often included in the fine print of contracts with private property owners, where cell phone towers are to be placed, is something like: property owner is responsible for any and all damage or lawsuits coming from neighbors or anyone else.
Suggestion for city:
1. Write the law to increase corporate accountability.
2. Wireless telecom providers should not be allowed to pass any potential liability for their equipment on to property owners.
3. Also in fine print sometimes is: “property owner is not allowed to cancel the lease agreement.” Property owners, or the city should be able to cancel a lease or franchise contract any time requirements or proper maintenance and testing are not complied with.
4. Cell phone providers should cover their towers with 6 Million dollars of insurance per tower.
5. Tax cell phones to help pay for insurance premiums.
Alena -- A MORATORIUM, A moratorium on wireless and cell phone equipment installation on city property, gives the city time for the legal department to split wireless and non-wireless parts of the ordinance. It gives the city a chance to be in touch with neighborhood associations to be sure the city code is in harmony with neighborhood association requirements and codes. A 6 month moratorium gives us time to make a “Telecommunications Plan,” for the city of Santa Fe that is intelligent and considers the needs of all parties.
Therese – FCC has posted on their site that a moratorium is ok. 1. Can there be a compromise? I’ve lived in Santa Fe my whole life, I grew up here, and we are supposed to be the city different, so we do things different here. And why do we need more companies in a quadrant? Do all of these companies need to be there, or can we just have four?
2. And I don’t like the idea of a ten year franchise agreement. We are really just trying to protect the city from unnecessary head aches and law suites from individuals and property owners, and to protect the cities rights. Can’t you make one year agreements? Technology changes, etc.
3. Another thing, If the city can know where every single water meter is, and monitor it, then why can’t the city know and keep track of cell phone towers and monitor them closely?
4. We have the “cleanest air in America,” so why not keep Santa Fe clean of “airwaves” also. Please study the economic impact of these companies installing their equipment in neighborhoods, before moving forward with wireless technologies. We are working to protect the city.
Virginia—FCC comments : Don’t give up zoning laws. Keep towers and antennae’s out of residential areas, while we work on changing the federal law that does not allow people to prevent towers due to health or environmental concerns. I received a call from Udall’s office. Nathan, an assistant, has invited us to come to their office and work on this. This is something the city and state should work together on.
When a company applies to put up a tower, ask them to prove it is safe. Cell Phone Industry has side-stepped the need to prove the cell phones were safe for people, before releasing them.
If DAS will build poles, in a neighborhood that doesn’t have poles, how can they get approval for this?
Is there a way to devise a study on wildlife around cell phone towers?
Leah Morton – Friends of the Earth filed a lawsuit against the FCC for allowing towers in bird pathways.
A cell phone tower was placed in an area where the White Stork breeds. For miles around the cell tower, the White Stork fought with each other and could not build their nest. So the ability of the White Stork to reproduce was stopped in that location.
Young man at the end: I want 3G service. For the people who pay for 3G (high speed) service, you can’t get it here. Edge service is all you can get here, which is not as fast. Santa Fe needs to come up with the rest of the world in technology, so we can have 3G service here.
Question from audience: Do you want faster service even if your children will have Cancer?
Young Man: We already have microwaves and Televisions, I don’t see the difference.
Arianna: Security
Security is poor on a wireless network. It is continually becoming more and more broken into. All wireless internet providers follow Bruce Shine’s recommendations. A wired service is more secure. You do not need wireless. You can use wire for as many computers as you need.
John McPhee—Tom Udall has already agreed to meet with the American Association of Cell Phone Safety
Bingamon, Luhan?
Cell phone industry hearing. Case with federal govt. over health labeling. Government asked Industry, “why do you say, “Don’t hold it on your head,” Industry was confronted. Industry did not have a response, and said they would have to get back on that. This is a situation where we really need to have a guideline in the state and the city of Precautionary Principle.
3,000 doctors
wi max on train
water meters – wireless
like spraying DDT, spraying yard and house
Miguel Chavez – closing thank you
Azlan White, Closing Remarks: Even though we did not address health issues at this meeting, we, the local citizens group are concerned about local health and safety issues with cell phone and radio frequency devices. We hope to continue our intensive research into microwaves and radio waves and create a solid “oversight team,” in collaboration with the city of Santa Fe and the state of New Mexico, to oversee cell phone towers and radio frequency devices in the Santa Fe and surrounding area, to continually check these radio frequency devices for community safety. I am available as your Santa Fe telecommunications researcher and activist, because I care about this issue. I care about the wellbeing of the people in Santa Fe. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions: 505-983-7071 or aw@globalreliefresources.org
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Residents: City should rethink wireless rules Group pushes for moratorium on city telecom ordinance Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican Posted: Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 4/8/10
The federal government does not want cities to talk about possible health or environmental consequences from the growing number of wireless antennas.
For some Santa Fe residents, that is exactly the reason those issues should be raised and why the city should slow down on making rules that would allow more telecommunications infrastructure here.
About 30 people gathered Thursday at the Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center to talk about ways to govern telecommunications networks and cable systems in public rights of way.
"I've read a lot of studies on the Internet about (radio frequency waves)," said audience member Michael Collins. "They range from 'Oh, everything is fine' to 'Children should stay away from them.' I don't know what to think. ... I don't know about you, but I felt a lot better before cell phones and cell towers and Wi-Fi."
The meeting, arranged by the Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety in conjunction with city Councilor Miguel Chavez, included a pitch for supporters to gather signatures on a petition that will be presented to the City Council seeking a moratorium on applications for wireless networks.
Chavez has already introduced a measure that would impose a six-month moratorium on approval of applications to give the city time to refine its ordinance and evaluate how other cities are handling applications. At least four companies have already spoken with Santa Fe officials or filed formal requests to install such systems here.
Members of the alliance said they have been working on their own version of an ordinance that would establish two separate processes — one for cable and wired proposals, and another for wireless infrastructure such as towers and antennas.
City Legislative Liaison Jeanne Price said the city attorney would be the one to decide about whether separating those portions of the rules is possible or advisable.
"I love the city of Santa Fe. I don't want us to get sued," said Therese Zucal, who asked Chavez to work toward that goal.
"People keep intermixing the two, and we want to separate them," agreed John McPhee, a worker with the state Department of Health who volunteered to moderate the meetings and who lamented that his agency doesn't have jurisdiction over wireless antennas either.
Separating those concepts would also allow for projects such as broadband and fiber-optic cable installation to move ahead faster than the more controversial wireless projects, agreed other audience members.
Richard Lowenberg, part of 1st-Mile Institute's New Mexico Broadband Initiative, said "the national telecommunications landscape is changing rapidly and radically."
He agreed with the idea to separate cable rules from wireless rules and also urged the city to take its time. "Santa Fe would do well to really think about this deeply and in a very foresightedly way," Lowenberg said.
Chavez reminded the audience that although the city has asked the federal government to give it more authority when regulating telecommunications, the current effort needs to focus on "what we are allowed to discuss ... which is property value and aesthetics." The FCC limits local government from considering health or environment when granting approval for antennas.
Activist Azlan White said she sees tremendous promise in groups of residents calling on Santa Fe leaders to respond to their concerns.
"It seems like the federal government and the FCC have become mouthpieces for the industry. They are not thinking about health, and they are not thinking about our safety," White said, adding later, "Literally, it is against the law for us to interfere with the telecommunications business. ... We have to become much more outspoken for things that we care about."
The proposed Santa Fe telecommunications ordinance has been a contentious issue in the city for months. Even before the ordinance emerged from city staff, area residents had appeared in force at public hearings to protest the installation of wireless Internet in city buildings — which happened anyway — and the use of a wireless monitoring system for the city water system, which was successfully thwarted.
In early February, the City Council tabled its scheduled vote on the telecommunications ordinance after nearly 30 people testified against it.
The other side of the equation, communications providers who want to do business in Santa Fe, says the city has already violated rules from the federal government that require cities to act on applications for franchise agreements within 90 days, and their applications have passed that deadline.
The city's current telecommunications ordinance — which would be formally repealed by the proposed changes — was mostly struck down by a federal appellate court in 2004. City staff started redrafting the rules last year. Maureen Reed, a city assistant attorney, is no longer working on the project and has resigned from her job, according to City Manager Robert Romero.
A second public meeting is planned for 7 p.m. April 22 at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road. The City Council has the proposed ordinance on its agenda May 12.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.
link to article:
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/LocalNews/Residents--Rethink-wireless-rules
For some Santa Fe residents, that is exactly the reason those issues should be raised and why the city should slow down on making rules that would allow more telecommunications infrastructure here.
About 30 people gathered Thursday at the Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center to talk about ways to govern telecommunications networks and cable systems in public rights of way.
"I've read a lot of studies on the Internet about (radio frequency waves)," said audience member Michael Collins. "They range from 'Oh, everything is fine' to 'Children should stay away from them.' I don't know what to think. ... I don't know about you, but I felt a lot better before cell phones and cell towers and Wi-Fi."
The meeting, arranged by the Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety in conjunction with city Councilor Miguel Chavez, included a pitch for supporters to gather signatures on a petition that will be presented to the City Council seeking a moratorium on applications for wireless networks.
Chavez has already introduced a measure that would impose a six-month moratorium on approval of applications to give the city time to refine its ordinance and evaluate how other cities are handling applications. At least four companies have already spoken with Santa Fe officials or filed formal requests to install such systems here.
Members of the alliance said they have been working on their own version of an ordinance that would establish two separate processes — one for cable and wired proposals, and another for wireless infrastructure such as towers and antennas.
City Legislative Liaison Jeanne Price said the city attorney would be the one to decide about whether separating those portions of the rules is possible or advisable.
"I love the city of Santa Fe. I don't want us to get sued," said Therese Zucal, who asked Chavez to work toward that goal.
"People keep intermixing the two, and we want to separate them," agreed John McPhee, a worker with the state Department of Health who volunteered to moderate the meetings and who lamented that his agency doesn't have jurisdiction over wireless antennas either.
Separating those concepts would also allow for projects such as broadband and fiber-optic cable installation to move ahead faster than the more controversial wireless projects, agreed other audience members.
Richard Lowenberg, part of 1st-Mile Institute's New Mexico Broadband Initiative, said "the national telecommunications landscape is changing rapidly and radically."
He agreed with the idea to separate cable rules from wireless rules and also urged the city to take its time. "Santa Fe would do well to really think about this deeply and in a very foresightedly way," Lowenberg said.
Chavez reminded the audience that although the city has asked the federal government to give it more authority when regulating telecommunications, the current effort needs to focus on "what we are allowed to discuss ... which is property value and aesthetics." The FCC limits local government from considering health or environment when granting approval for antennas.
Activist Azlan White said she sees tremendous promise in groups of residents calling on Santa Fe leaders to respond to their concerns.
"It seems like the federal government and the FCC have become mouthpieces for the industry. They are not thinking about health, and they are not thinking about our safety," White said, adding later, "Literally, it is against the law for us to interfere with the telecommunications business. ... We have to become much more outspoken for things that we care about."
The proposed Santa Fe telecommunications ordinance has been a contentious issue in the city for months. Even before the ordinance emerged from city staff, area residents had appeared in force at public hearings to protest the installation of wireless Internet in city buildings — which happened anyway — and the use of a wireless monitoring system for the city water system, which was successfully thwarted.
In early February, the City Council tabled its scheduled vote on the telecommunications ordinance after nearly 30 people testified against it.
The other side of the equation, communications providers who want to do business in Santa Fe, says the city has already violated rules from the federal government that require cities to act on applications for franchise agreements within 90 days, and their applications have passed that deadline.
The city's current telecommunications ordinance — which would be formally repealed by the proposed changes — was mostly struck down by a federal appellate court in 2004. City staff started redrafting the rules last year. Maureen Reed, a city assistant attorney, is no longer working on the project and has resigned from her job, according to City Manager Robert Romero.
A second public meeting is planned for 7 p.m. April 22 at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road. The City Council has the proposed ordinance on its agenda May 12.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.
link to article:
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/LocalNews/Residents--Rethink-wireless-rules
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