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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Pine Bush considers cell tower at Circleville
By LAURA FITZGERALD
[email protected]
The Pine Bush Central School District
is considering installing a cell phone
tower at Circleville Middle School (CVMS)
to improve poor reception inside three
buildings in the district.
Superintendent Tim Mains said
coverage is unavailable in CVMS,
Circleville Elementary School and
Pakanasink Elementary School, which
presents safety problems.
“We consider it a safety issue for us to
have such poor cell phone service on this
end of the district,” Mains said.
For example, Mains said an adult-
to-adult conflict occurred at a modified
basketball game, which prompted the
coaches to move the players to the locker
rooms. When adults in the audience tried
to call 911 to avoid an altercation, they
couldn’t make the call because of poor
service.
In another recent incident, a staff
member collapsed in a hallway at CVMS,
but no one could receive service when
trying to call from their cell phone.
Fortunately, the incident occurred during
the day, so staff where able to call 911
using office phones.
Verizon Wireless representative
Michael Crosby said a 62-foot antenna
would be needed to provide coverage
in the three buildings. The existing
Scotchtown tower is over capacity.
Buildings such as schools are more
difficult to penetrate because of the
nature of the construction, so a stronger
signal outside the building is needed,
Crosby said.
Crosby said despite the close proximity
of the tower to students and staff, the
signal strength will stay within the
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)-mandated guidelines for what
is safe for the general population and
occupational workers.
Cell phone towers pose no health risk
because the frequencies they omit are
much lower than the frequencies needed
to cause cell damage. Crosby listed
numerous organizations that have come
to the same conclusion, such as the FCC,
the American Cancer Society, the World
Health Organization, the Food and Drug
Administration and many more.
“What we’re providing for service does
not create adverse health effects,” Crosby
said. “So, this is not for children or adults
to be concerned with.”
Crosby said Verizon has installed cell
service at several other schools, such
as schools in Monticello, Utica and
Rochester.
“We work on a roughly 45,000 square
mile area across upstate New York and
portions of Pennsylvania, so it’s common
for us to do this sort of installation,”
Crosby said. “It’s not out of the ordinary.”
The project would come at no cost to
the district because Verizon would be able
to collect revenue from providing surface
to the surrounding area.
Crosby said in the best case scenario,
construction would start later this year to
have the tower operational by 2020.
Tri-County Community
Partnership to hold Paddle Run
The
Tri-County
Community
Partnership (TCCP) will hold its second
annual Brock Haney and Ethan Beck
Memorial Paddle Run on June 8.
The 5.1-mile paddle run will begin
at Thomas Bull Memorial Park and
end at Benedict Farm Park. The event
will include food, music, raffles and
awards for first, second and third place
finishers in each category.
Proceeds benefit the TCCP, a 501c3
charity and community coalition that
raises awareness of the dangers of
drug and alcohol use and advocates for
healthier and drug-free communities.
Every donation goes towards the
coalition’s public initiatives in
education and prevention.
“It is a very worthy cause and I
think it is just a really exciting and fun
day,” TCCP member Laura Beck said.
The event is in honor of Brock
Haney and Ethan Beck, two young men
who passed away after struggling with
substance abuse.
Food sales will be split with the
TCCP and the Wallkill East Rotary.
Town of Shawangunk
2019 SUMMER CAMP
July 8 thru August 16 • Monday - Friday • 9 am to 3 pm
Verkeerderkill Park • Route 52, Pine Bush, NY
$350 for 6 weeks, before & after care available
Discounts for additional family members.
To register or for more information visit www.shawangunk.org (or) call (845) 895-2611
GAMES • CRAFTS • FUN • SPORTS • FIELD TRIPS