Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Cell Tower news

The North Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch draws attention to continued opposition to the Medlock cell tower proposal, apparently reporting from statements made by Joanne Massey at last night's MANA meeting.

MANA would like to issue a correction to the following statement:

"That defense comes in the form of an attorney Massey has hired to represent the association’s interests."

MANA is indeed opposed to a cell tower at Medlock Elementary but, as noted in last night's meeting, the lawyer mentioned in the article is being paid for by the Masseys and several contributing neighbors, not by MANA.

June 29 Update: Patch has posted the following correction:

CORRECTION: This story said potential tenants at Medlock Elementary School have expressed dissatisfaction with the possibility of a cell tower at the school. No potential tenants have expressed concern. Massey said she was concerned some might. The story also implied that the association hired an attorney. The attorney was hired by a group of residents fighting the tower proposal, and the attorney doesn't represent the association. The errors have been corrected in the story.



This is a perfect opportunity to remind all neighbors to keep writing to the DeKalb County School System's Board of Education lest they forget how very opposed we are to a cell tower in the heart of our neighborhood. The wrong-headedness of this proposal is confirmed by Dan Drake's announcement that Medlock will be leased and used as school grounds in the next ~5 years.

As Commissioner Gannon reminded us last night, with the DCSS Board of Education controlling such a large percentage of property tax revenue, we need to hold them accountable and attend their meetings. MANA is keeping an eye on the meeting schedule, with July 11 as a potential date when the cell tower proposal will be discussed. Some neighbors are interested in attending and we will post a reminder as that date draws closer.

Meanwhile, you can register your cell tower discontent by signing the online petition (click on the monopole tower on the right margin) or directly by emails to the Board. You can grab those addresses from our previous post here.