School Board Knocks Down Brockett Elementary Cell Tower Proposal

Cell phone company T-Mobile USA Inc. lost its bid for a land lease at Brockett Elementary to build a cell tower, after DeKalb County school board members pulled the site from the construction list.

Pamela Speaks, whose school board superdistrict includes Brockett, helped initiate the cut, saying she'd heard the community did not want the tower.

Area board member Paul Womack also voted to remove Brockett and two other schools from the list of a dozen schools where T-Mobile sought leases. However, he rejected arguments on any health risk, putting any radiation danger at about the same level as a cell phone.

T-Mobile proposed a 30-year lease for tower space either on the far northeast corner of the property or by the parking lot near the front entrance.

At some 150 feet, the tower would have been taller than the surrounding trees.

The county school system would have collected yearly rent ranging from $21,600 to $31,200 — adjusted annually for inflation — for the tower, depending on how much equipment T-Mobile eventually installed. That would have also determined the one-time cash payment Brockett would have received: between $25,000 and $100,000.

The board did approve leases at nine other county schools including Smoke Rise Elementary. Now T-Mobile needs county planning and zoning approval. According to the company, permits plus building generally take three to four months per tower.

T-Mobile proposes siting the Smoke Rise tower on the corner of Hugh Howell and Silver Hill roads.

Board member Donna Edler proposed cutting all the schools including Smoke Rise on health grounds. "I'm not one to pick and choose" among children of different communities, she said.