Judging by crowd size, the topic of greatest interest to residents at the April 24 City Council meeting was clearly the proposed construction of a T-Mobile cell phone antenna tower on the grounds of Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS). Council unanimously approved motions to send a letter expressing their concerns to Milestone Communications, which would install the antenna, and to send additional letters to County Executive Rushern Baker and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Maxwell of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS). Council was to collaborate with staff to refine the draft letter to Milestone and the letters to Baker and Maxwell.
The ERHS tower would be one of many authorized under an agreement between PGCPS and Milestone. The school board has approved the contract but is not involved in the selection or review of tower sites.
The tower would have three vertical supports upon which several large signs would be placed. As an example, Milestone showed a photo of a tower installed at Corkran Middle School in Anne Arundel County, which has panels showing the school mascot, the name of the school and three panels each containing one letter of CMS.
Under the agreement between the PGCPS and Milestone, the school system would receive 40 percent of the revenue generated by the tower. These funds will go into the PGCPS’s general budget, not to ERHS.
The tower is proposed to be installed close to Greenbelt Road between the parking lot and Greenwood Village. It would be 105 feet high and placed upon a site that is higher than the school building and is one of the highest points in Greenbelt. This would increase its visibility in other areas of Greenbelt. Milestone has posted more information about the proposal at roosevelthswireless.com.
Council and residents present had several concerns about the proposal. First was about the community meeting to be held the following evening in Seabrook. Council questioned whether this location and the means used by the company to announce the meeting were adequate. A number of nearby property owners, including the three Greenbelt East residents on council (Mayor Emmett Jordan and Councilmembers Judith Davis and Edward Putens) said that they did not receive notification.
Read the story in the May 4 News Review