2015 March 12 HB 727 Public Comment

8/9/2019 2015 March 12 HB 727 Public Comment

1/6

Public

Comment

on House Bill 727

Anne

Arundel

County

Board

of

Education -

Wireless Telecommunications Towers

- Moratorium and Report

March 12, 2015

Janis Zink Sartucci

8 Fast Facts for HB 727

Fact: The

Maryland Attorney General

has opined

that

public schools do

not

have

the authority

to enter into transactions involving long term leases of school property for commercial use.

See: 2006 Maryland Attorney General Opinion at Page 33. Public Schools - Authority of Local Board

to Enter Into Transactions Involving Long Term Lease of School Property for Commercial Use.

In that opinion, the Attorney General stated, In reaching the conclusion that the Board lacks authority

to enter into the proposed lease, Board Counsel relied on Annotated Code of Maryland, Education

Article, Sec. 4-114, which states that

a

local board holds school property in trust for the benefit of the

school system

...

Fact:

There

is no public

record

of the Anne

Arundel Board

of

Education

voting to

award the

contract for construction of cell towers on public school playgrounds to Milestone

Communications.

The Maryland Open Meetings Act calls for public bodies to be accountable for their actions by

recording their votes in their minutes. Awards of Contract are Action Items and for all other Awards

there is a Board vote recorded in the Anne Arundel Board of Education Minutes. There are no Anne

Arundel Board of Education minutes that reflect the Award of this contract or the vote of the Board on

this contract award.

Fact: Cell towers on public school land are required by Maryland law to pay property taxes.

School Boards don't pay property taxes. They are tax-exempt.

Maryland law is clear. Cell towers on public land owe MD property taxes. However, by using the

Board of Education's tax account identification number cell tower companies are avoiding paying

Maryland property taxes. In Anne Arundel County

a

cell tower has already been constructed at

Broadneck High School. That cell tower is not paying it's required MD property taxes. There is a

statute of limitations on how many years of back property taxes can be collected. If the Broadneck

High School cell tower is not assigned

a

property tax id now, the State, County and Municipalities are

in danger of loosing this revenue forever.


2/6

Fact:

Boards

of

Education are not required

by any

federal

law to lease public school

land

to cell

tower companies.

On July 9, 2014, the Anne Arundel Board of Education was discussing the placement of cell towers on

public school playgrounds. Board of Education member Deborah Ritchie made the following

statement, This is

a

federal regulation. People need to go federally to get this changed. We are

obligated to do this.

Board member Ritchie could not be more wrong. There is no such federal law, rule or regulation that

requires cell towers on public school playgrounds. Boards of Education in Maryland have rejected

proposals to place cell towers on public school playgrounds. Even the Anne Arundel Board proposal to

put

a

cell tower on the Piney Orchard Elementary School playground was withdrawn.

Fact: The cell tower leases

for

the

Broadneck

High School

and Center

of Applied Technology

North

School cell towers

are not with the

company

that

was

approved

by

the Board

of

Education.

Allegedly, the Anne Arundel Board of Education awarded

a

cell tower contract to Milestone

Communications. However, the actual leases for the placement of cell towers at these two school sites

are with

a

totally different company.

Fact: A

person named

Lawrence A.

Alberts

is signing

applications for Permits

to

build

cell

towers on Anne

Arundel

Public School

land.

Who is Lawrence A. Alberts? He is not the Board of Education President. He is not the

Superintendent. Who is this person that is making the decision to build cell towers on public school

playgrounds in Anne Arundel County?

I

have asked for any documentation that shows there has been

a

legal Delegation of Authority by the

Board of Education or the Superintendent to staff, but no documents have been produced. As far as the

public knows, Mr. Alberts has absolutely no legal authority to be requesting building permits on Anne

Arundel County Public School land. Mr. Alberts is not the owner of this land and can not act for the

Board of Education.

Fact: As of today, March 12, 2015, Milestone Communications is marketing 115 Anne Arundel

County

Public School sites

for

use as cell tower sites with

up

to

3

cell towers

at

each school.

The Master Lease that the Board of Education approved with Milestone Communications was to

include a list of public school sites to be marketed for cell tower use. The list of school sites was not

part of the Master Lease and to this day, has never been made public. Nonetheless, Milestone

Communications has posted

a

list of 115 Anne Arundel County Public Schools on its website as

available for use as cell tower compounds.

Fact: Milestone Communications is a sponsor of

the Maryland

Association of

Boards

of

Education

(MABE).

That sponsorship includes financial support of the annual MABE conference in Ocean City and the

presence of Milestone Communications sales staff at the MABE convention. At the MABE

convention, Milestone Communications has unrestricted, exclusive access to members of Boards of

Education from all over Maryland.


3/6

Attachment A

Maryland

Tax Regulations

regarding

telecommunications tower sites:

E.

Communication towers that are located on exempt property and utility operating property will

require special treatment. There are three different situations examined here:

1 .

A tower associated with

an educational, religious, or non-profit user.

2.

A tower built upon land that is owned by a government

(Federal, State, or Municipal) agency. 3 . Towers constructed on Public Utility easements or rights-of

way.

1

A tower associated with an educational religious or non profit user.

Sites located on exempt properties must be discovered, listed, and assessed. For educational, religious,

and other non-profit uses, the tower use is not consistent with the typical qualifying exempt purpose.

When discovered, it may be necessary to have

a

new application for exemption completed by the

property owner. The emphasis of this should be toward obtaining

a

copy of the lease for the tower site.

The tower site,

along with any other area of the property dedicated to

a

commercial use, should be made taxable, and

notices should be sent to the owner of the real estate. The taxable notice would be directed to the owner

of the land. The conditions relative to qualifying for an exemption, and the controlling dates for the

application process are found in the Maryland Assessment Procedures Manual.

2. A tower built upon land that is owned by a government agency.

For government owned property, the tower site should be assessed to the tenant

(

Lessee) in possession

of the property. The Tax Property Article, in Section 6-102(

e ),

provides that the interest of

a

person in

property owned by the federal, the State,

a

county, or

a

municipal corporation government is subject to

property taxes as though the lessee or the user of the property were the owner of the property, if the

property is leased ... in conjunction with

a

business that is conducted for profit. There are certain

exceptions that should be considered in this regard, and those exceptions are discussed in Sections 7-

211 and 7-501 of the Tax Property Article. Section 7-211 allows for concessions to be operated on

public lands. It does not seem likely that

a

communications tower could ever be termed

a

concession,

since such improvements must be located in

a

public airport, park, market, or fairground to qualify as

a

concession, and must also be available for use by the general public. Other exceptions from this

section, however, may apply. Property used in activities associated with the national defense, property

subjected to

a

payment in lieu of taxes, and property used as

a

port facility are generally excluded

from the provisions of 6-102(

e ).

Section 7-501 deals more with payments in lieu of taxes, and the

authority of various counties and municipal governments to authorize an exemption to assessments

made under 6-102(e).

http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/procedures/014100025.htm


4/6

Bui lding Permi t Appl icat ion

P,t~,;; f r

tee

I

,~ - ()

Dare

ITlllCACC #

r a r e #

IUNPWAJ

September

9,

2014 3000

-9004

-0245

Site Address

Map

I Block

rarcel

llot(s)

241 Peninsula Farm Road

32H

1 2 135

Clly

State 'Zip

Subdivision

Arnold M D

21012

Sulla# Tenant Name

ranant Location

Ver Zon

Property Owner Information

I

Contractor's lnfonnatlon I

Company Name

Uc

Type

'Company Name

Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Name

Name

Gregory

J.

Stewart

Mallillg Address

Malling Address

9034 Fort Smallwood Road

City

'Stale Zip

City

1s1ate

IZtp

Pasadena MD 21122

Telephone

Telephone

410-439-5960

Eman Email

[email protected]

I

Applicant l11format1on I

Engineer lnformallon

I

Company Name

Company Name

Network Building & Consulting

Entrex

Name

Name

Sean Huohes

Colleen Khan, Project Manager

Mailing Address

Mailing Address

6095 Marshalee Drive Suite 300

6600 Rockledge Drive, Suite 550

City

1s1a1e 1z1p

Clly

1s1ete IZip

Elkrld '.le

MD 21075 Bethesda MD 20817

Telephone

Telephone

410-712-7092 Ext. 1017

202-408-0960

Emai l

Email

[email protected]

[email protected]

I

Architect Information

I

Pennlt Type.Check One I

Company Name

0New

O Sprink crs

Name

O

Addition

O Accessory Structure·

Mailing Address

Indicate heighls of:

O AlteraUon/Repalrs

City

'Stale flip

Principal

__ ft __ in

[] Sign

Telephone

Accessory __ ft __ in

Ema

I

Is this permit application to resolve a vlolallon?

M

Yes

1

No

Desaibe Proposed Work:

Install a commercial telecommunications facility consisting of a 110' monoplne with

a

35'

x

75' equipment

compound to accommodate Verizon.

r 1 · · .

Permit Application Center

t 2664 Riva Road

revised 2/05(09 jpr


5/6

Residential Building Permit Application Details

Property Data l ls I e : · - · _ ,_

_

• •

_-

•

· I ~-. :.

~

7 _

,--- · - - 1 Construction Datalls

C No Publ ic Water

C N o Public Sewer

1 2 1

Wid th

x

Length

[ Z

Unlinfshed Ba6Elment

x

C J

Finished Basement

x

a

1st

Floor

x

a

2nd Roar

x

3rd Floor

x

Garage/Carport

x

Porch

x

71Deck

x

Siled

x

Other

Tola Square Footage

Total Finished Area· per ANSI 765·2003

Cost of Work

$

Grading

Perm i t #

. · - - - · · - - -

-

- ·

.

.

.

·

Comer lot

Q Yes

Watelfront

C l Yes

Cnl lcatArea

C Yes

Bog Area

C l

Yes

C J

No

0No

Wall

Sep~c

Mayo System

DCMap

_

Zoning Cfasslficalion

N a m e ofWate iway

Bui ld ing

Characteristics

Bldr, Height:

N umber

o r

stories

Exis t ing

_

Proposed

-1

Number fBsdrooms

Number o f Ba lhs

Smoke Delectors

Carbon Monoxide Detectors --------------

Flrep lace

Heating

Fuel Tyfl ' ) /AC

l

.

TolalSq.Ft.

Proposed Work to Include (cheek a l l that app ly):

Sprink lers C J Yes

O

No Plumbin J C J Yes C N o

Elecll lc O Yes O N o Heal in.9. /AC

O

Yes C J N o

E

Commercial Building Permit Application Details

Heating Fuelse Group

Conslructlon Ty p e

ExlsUngUse

Proposed Use

N umber o f Elevators

Num ber o f Standp ipes

Smoke Oetac lors

E

N A

Number o f Stories N A

~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~

Bullcllng Height: Existing NA

-----

Number

r Fire Alarms

Tola S quare Footage 2500

sq

ft.

~ ~ = ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sp

ln

k

ered Area Square Footage

NA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Proposed 110

monop i r

The app l icant hereby cert if ies as fol lows: 1) that he/she Is authorized to make

this

appl icat ion; 2) that

all

in format ion

prov ided

by

the

appl icant,

whether on

an original

appl ical fon

or on

an app l ication for

a

revision,

Is

t rue and

correct,

induding

al l Informat ion on any attachments.. . f lereto;~)"1ha(ori"a°"n-appl icatioo---fOI ' ev is ion and al l at tachments thereto, he/she

has

_,..

- - - - - .

. • . . • .

brought to the at tent ion of

the

Permit Appl icat ion Center all changes

being .made

from the or iginal appl icat ion and

at tachmeots thereto

by highl ighting

those changes on this

fo rm

and the at tachm ~s;~lJ : ial he/she wi l l com ply with all

regulal jons of A nne Arundel County which are appl icable hereto; 5) that he/she wi ll p arform'no

~rk

on the above p rq,erty

ot spec if ically descr ibed

n

this ap pl icat ion; 6) that he/she grants County officials the right to enter"@to the prop erty for the

purpose

of Insp ect ing lhe

work perm it ted

and

post ing no t ices.

·b ,;;£.£?:

Ow r /Agent

Prin t Name:

Lawrence

A. Alberts

Dale:

l~a~lghbodloods

within

Anne Arundel County have

private

deed

reslrfcllo~

~ants

regulating

bui ld ing oonstruc l ion. Anne

Arundel"Colin~~wlll-nof

dele1_ l l l (ne . w~r

or

not the work covered by a p 1 1 m 1 U s~lfslle~tbMe~venanlS. Obta in ing a

building

permit does not relieve

the t iomeownerof hlsresponsibilityfor---


6/6

in

M A B E A n n u al C o n f e re n ce B l o g Ne ws M i l e s . . . ht tps: / /mail .google.com/ _/scs/mail -s tat ic/ _/ js /k=gmaiLmain .en.X

•

ilestone

COMMUNtCATfONS

Proper ty Owners Wire less

Carriers Locations

Our

Team

Hopecam

Market Your Sitff

j f M r r lu H i 9

Dow,,load Available Sites

C M ¥ 1 : H 9

Connect with Milestone

r

..

: ; Y o u

..l'illlT I

1

bout ilestone

Milestone Participates in M AB E Annual Conference

October

3 .

1013

04:07 PM

Wireless

Safety

Print

Emai l

C i J I D

Im

C D . _ Tweet

2

This week, Milestone Marketing Director Jennifer

Bond

is

in

attendance

at

the

Maryland Association of Boards of Education's Annual Conference. The

conference, held at the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel in Ocean City, is

/.',aryland's premiere conference for school system leaders.

MABEs

forum for

providing training for effective and efficient governance and sharing of

best

practices and latest trends, attracts board members and superintendents from 2 < 1

districts.

Milestone is an exhibitor

at

this years conference. presenting an illustration of

the

sites

the company is marketing for potential wireless tower projects on

behalf of landowners. The booth provides school systems with the opportunity to

learn more about how lo add their land to the map of potential sites.

3/11/2015 10:2

Documents

2015 March 12 HB 727 Public Comment