Re: [[MDOsprey] Rock Creek Cell Towers Alert]
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Wed, 27 Oct 99 09:05:07 EDT
Hi Ellen --
The NPS will not tell anyone what BAM will pay for the rights to put up a
cell tower, but insiders say it will probably be $5000-$10,000/yr. NPS says
this is fair market value, but we know Sprint pays the National Cathedral
$100,000 annually for its transmission facilities in the cathedral tower (which
btw cannot be seen from the street. Sprint is a digital carrier.) This is an
issue but not the largest, the main one is derogation of park values --- it is
a Frederick Law Olmstead park and on the National Historic Register.
The Tower-free Park Alliance (local ANCs primarily) do plan a media event and
I will email details when these are available. There have been several in-park
petition drives and during one, 800 signatures were collected in a few hours,
all from the folks whom BAM say "want" cellular phone use in the park (joggers
and bicylists). My personal opinion is the primary push for improved cellular
coverage is from commuters on Beach Drive who "lose" conversations as they
drive along. (Now the thought of someone yakking on the cell phone while on
that winding narrow road is a hairy thought indeed!)
Btw, tests by various birders and others find that calls from the ridge on
virtually every carrier, including BAM, go through fine. The problem are
"dead spots" along Beach Dr.
So it comes down to -- what is more important to the NPS?
Gail Mackiernan