Subject:  Church Mulls Cell Tower in Cross  (Burmaster)
Date:     Mon, 27 Sep 1999 025633 -0500 (CDT)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" 
To:       emfguru 
--------------------------------------------------


.......Before agreeing to the erection of that cell phone tower on the
church, the MEMBERS of that church need to consider:
 
If any problems arise because of the tower -- resulting in injury or
property damages to the neighbors -- the Church becomes a 'liable
party' (as well as the cell phone company).....  i.e., When the first kid
in the neighborhood comes down with leukemia -- the church will be subject
to a law suit as well as the cell phone company......  (Or the first
neighbor who decides that his property value has been "damaged" by the
presence of the tower....???)

Cheerio.....

Roy Beavers (EMFguru)......
rbeavers@llion.org.......
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
EMF-L web-site can be found at: 
EMF-L archives can be found at: 
..................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS..................

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 23:31:46 EDT
From: Envoptions@aol.com
To: rbeavers@llion.org
Subject: SX1: Church Mulls Cell Tower in Cross 

Forwarded by Spark Burmaster
Church Mulls Cell Tower in Cross

.c The Associated Press

  
ALEXANDRIA. Va. (AP) - A financially struggling church is considering a deal 
with Ma Bell: Allow AT&T to build a 130-foot-tall cross with a cellular phone 
tower concealed inside and First Christian Church will get $18,000 a year. 

``This could be a godsend, from our perspective,'' said the Rev. Tim Mabbott, 
the church pastor. 

The money would represent almost 10 percent of the church's annual budget and 
help put the church back on solid footing. 

But for the church's neighbors, the proposed cross is a troubling sign of 
things to come. 

``We do not have anything against the church,'' said Michael Cassidy, who 
lives directly behind First Christian. ``The church has been wonderful to 
this neighborhood. We believe in the church, but we don't believe in the 
encroachment of AT&T in a residential neighborhood.'' 

AT&T usually places cell phone equipment on existing buildings, but about 15 
percent of the time that isn't possible, said Alexa E. Graf, a company 
spokeswoman. 

The company initially approached Alexandria's First Baptist Church, she said, 
but the Baptists were not interested in hiding the equipment in their 
steeple. 

``We are debating what we are going to do,'' Ms. Graf said. ``If the 
community opposition stays as strong as it is right now, we are going to have 
to rethink our other options.'' 

That is not what Mabbott wants to hear. 

Three years ago, First Christian was on the verge of closing its doors. The 
church was running an annual deficit and the aging congregation considered 
selling its land to a neighboring retirement home. 

``This is a very valuable piece of property and there was some talk of 
selling it to raise money and moving out to an area with more young children 
and families,'' Mabbott said. ``But we decided to give it another try.'' 

For longtime church member Betty Pratt, the debate over the cell tower boils 
down to common sense. 

``All the people who came up here the other day and were upset about this had 
cell phones,'' Ms. Pratt said. ``I don't know where they think those signals 
are going to bounce off of. They have got to bounce off something. You know 
the tower has to go someplace and we might as well get the benefit of it.'' 

AP-NY-09-26-99 1743EDT

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.



Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com