5G towers are coming to Harbor Springs High School, district evaluates options after community backlash

HARBOR SPRINGS — Since the late 1990s, cellular towers owned by AT&T and Verizon have found a home on the roof of Harbor Springs High School.

There is a lease agreement with AT&T and Verizon paying the school district rent to allow the antennas to remain on the roof. Now, with talks of the towers being upgraded to 5G, the school district has been in talks with a legal team to determine whether or not the district can put a stop to the upgrades.

But when the towers were put up, the towers only offered 3G connection. The fourth generation of cellular wasn’t even released until 2009. Now, there’s plans for the companies to upgrade the tower to 5G service, leaving community members and parents with concerns about the safety of the radiation that’s emitted from the towers.

Parents and community members alike have filled the public comment sections of Harbor Springs board of education meetings trying to prevent the upgrades being made to the towers, citing concerns that the radiation can serve as a cancer-causing agent.

The companies unveiling 5G are doing so because it leads to less lag time and overall faster speeds. The technology was launched on a larger scale earlier this year, and it’s expected that the technology will be relied on for connected cars, smart stadiums and gaming set ups.

While there have been very few studies done on 5G technology, the World Health Organization said there are no expected consequences to exposures to these technologies.

Concerns about the safety of 5G typically stem from the change in how the frequency is administered. 4G technology is administered at a lower frequency across a broader range, whereas 5G is administered at a higher frequency across shorter distances.

Most studies conducted looking into 5G health effects have either been inconclusive or did not find causality between adverse health effects and using 5G technology.

Now, with the upgrades scheduled to come to Harbor Springs as soon as the end of the month or early next, the school district is working with lawyers to determine if it has any ability to put a stop to the upgrades. Regardless, the district will be conducting its own testing of radio frequency levels.

AT&T and Verizon will both conduct their own testing, and Harbor Springs Public Schools will also have an independent test run. The two companies have within 30 days of upgrades to run the report and send the information back to the district, Superintendent Brad Plackemeier said.

There are three AT&T antennas and two Verizon antennas on top of the high school. Plackemeier said for the full year, the district gets between $100,000-$120,000 in combined rent. The leases are for five years and automatically renew, Plackemeier said. He is working with attorneys to determine the exact dates of the leases. One lease began in 1998, the other 2000.

Plackemeier said part of the lease agreement said they can offer upgrades, but nothing that directly impacts the structure of the building. The towers are on their own platforms and do not penetrate the roof of the building at all.

While the discussion has been brought up at Harbor Springs City Council meetings as well, city manager Victor Sinadinoski said the city does not have any zoning control over the school.

“The school, the school board, what they decide to do on their property, that's their decision. We can't regulate any site modifications on school property,” he said, “There are federal and state laws that regulate this, so it's really kind of overall out of our control with how we can regulate small cell towers.”

At a special board meeting Monday, school board president Tim Davis said it’s important the people advocating against 5G know the board is not bringing this in, complimenting Plackemeier’s communication and facilitation of the issues in the process.

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“This is not the board as the issue,” he said. “This is the situation we’re in … we’re not evil people trying to do something wrong.”

When it comes to figuring out what the best options are moving forward, the board and district are working to evaluate all options.

“We're in the process of trying to figure out what we can do, and learn as much as we can, and do what we can do,” Plackemeier said.

— Contact education reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com or on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN. 

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: 5G towers cause concerns at Harbor Springs High School