What is with these people?

Editor,

On Nov. 25, AT&T announced plans for a very tall (199-foot) cell phone tower at 504 W. Jackson Ave., across the street from the Fairfield city limits on county land, very near residential and core commercial areas.

If approved, this would be the third 5G telecom network in the Fairfield area, along with US Cellular and TMobile.

Tall skeletal metal towers detract from community beauty, degrading nearby residential and commercial appearance, and are counterproductive to potential nearby city projects such as more affordable housing.

Towers often reduce property values up to a mile or more away.

Please request an environmental review from the FCC – by Dec. 25: www.fcc.gov/asr/environmentalrequest

State that the tower will harm the human environment, giving aesthetic reasons, property devaluation and health danger under the American Disability Act (ADA).

Tens of thousands of scientists and approximately 20,000 published studies warn that the new modulated 4G/5G is dangerous. It’s being rushed without one study – insufficient regard to safety – and with little or no customer demand (despite telecom industry promotion).

If you are sensitive to radiation, mention the ADA and Fair Housing rules - central issues. Low band 5G -- 700 MHz -- deeply penetrates, and can certainly impact EMF-sensitive people miles away.

Towers ordinarily lease space for multiple other transmitters (increasing in number over the years) creating more and more potentially dangerous electrosmog (in the context of ADA).

Our county board and Fairfield City Council can effectively address this. Your letter or call to them can make a big difference:

Supervisors:

• Dee Sandquist dsandquist@jeffersoncountyia.com

• Lee Dimmitt Lee.Dimmitt@jeffersoncountyia.com

• Daryn Hamilton dhamilt@yahoo.com

Although the proposed tower site is not in the city, adoption of the “2-mile rule” by Fairfield City Council could allow city action.

Please also encourage City Council members to finalize ASAP a new and proposed expanded city cell technology ordinance.

• Mayor Connie Boyer: mayor@fairfieldiowa.gov

• At-Large Doug Flournoy dsflournoy@hotmail.com (relevant committee chair)

• At-Large Katy Anderson Fairfieldkaty@gmail.com

Find your ward council person: http://cityoffairfieldiowa.com/114/City-Council

Ward Map: http://www.cityoffairfieldiowa.com/DocumentCenter/View/244/Fairfield-Ward-Map-Effective-Date-1-15-2012?bidId=

Letters to the Southeast Iowa Union, and contacting others, will also help.

*For legal reasons, do not ask to prevent or stop the ATT tower. This language can be used in a lawsuit claiming an attempt to ban or prohibit wireless coverage, preempted by the 1996 Telecommunications Act (TCA). Also, communities cannot legally discriminate against carriers.

However, communities can adopt ordinances with installation requirements.

Ask for a “decision to deny” this tower, not for a ban or regulation (TCA limits local regulation).

If you would like to see consideration of using the county nuisance law according to its initial general definition of nuisance, please let the supervisors know this.

This tower is not just up to a few leaders to deal with. It is up to you and us. If you would like to see this tower addressed and decided upon appropriately, please let our local leaders know how you feel: County Supervisors, Mayor Connie Boyer and our City Council members.

Einar Olsen

Fairfield