GILROY
– Honoring the request of residents to take down two Luigi Aprea
School flagpoles – which were going to double as cellular phone
towers – might not be as simple as the Gilroy Unified School
District had hoped.
GILROY – Honoring the request of residents to take down two Luigi Aprea School flagpoles – which were going to double as cellular phone towers – might not be as simple as the Gilroy Unified School District had hoped.
Cingular Wireless, the company that was installing the poles and antennas before District Superintendent Edwin Diaz stopped work late Monday, says it wants a face-to-face meeting with the school district before deciding what to do next.
“As Gilroy is an important area for Cingular, we strive to provide our customers in the Gilroy area with the best wireless service possible. We have just learned of this situation and are still learning all the details regarding (Tuesday’s) events,” Cingular said in a statement sent to The Dispatch Tuesday afternoon. “Cingular plans to work with the school and has ceased construction per the school’s request. Until further discussions resume, we cannot comment any further.”
Diaz stopped the work at the district’s second-newest school site after parents and residents, who are worried about potential health risks associated with exposure to radiation frequencies emitted from the cellular antennas, protested the project Tuesday morning. Cingular contends that cellular communications are not hazardous to human health.
“Experts – including doctors, biologists, engineers and other scientists in the U.S. and other countries – have conducted or participated in (radio frequency energy) studies over the last several decades and published their results in peer-reviewed scientific journals,” Cingular said.
The district had a contract with Cingular that would have paid $900 a month to the school in return for space to hold the antennas atop the flagpoles, which are located 20 feet from classrooms.
Cingular would not discuss how much it already had invested in labor and materials on the project, a figure that could determine whether the company appeals Diaz’s decision.
“We consider that information proprietary. We don’t release that for competitive reasons,” Cingular Spokesperson Richard Gomes said.
Cingular and the District both say the project’s construction plans went through the appropriate channels for approving its safety. But Diaz says the District’s policy is to have the school board approve such contracts.
That step didn’t happen and Diaz is taking the blame. However, GUSD Facilities Director Charlie Van Meter moved forward with the contract because he thought it was a lease agreement, which is typically handled by staff, he said.
“For me, it’s not a safety issue at this point. The point is it’s not a valid contract,” Diaz said. “We’ll get our legal opinion and (Cingular) will probably have theirs, but the bottom line is we have to come to some type of agreement because we don’t want those poles.”
What to do with the cellular towers is another topic up in the air.
Gomes said late Tuesday his company’s understanding was that Luigi Aprea School wanted to keep the towers in place to use as flagpoles for the American and California flags.
However, Diaz and Luigi Aprea Principal Sergio Montenegro sent separate letters to parents Tuesday stating the 50-foot poles would be removed from the school site immediately.
“Now that we have a base there, maybe we could just attach flagpoles,” Diaz said. “We need to sit down and talk to Cingular because they sat down in good faith, too.”
Cingular and the school district are hoping to meet within the next several days to discuss the matter.
