Cell tower discussed at Damascus meeting

By TOM KANE

DAMASCUS, PA - At the Damascus township meeting on October 16, the proposed new cell tower was a major topic of discussion. Township attorney Lee Krause requested the contract be adjusted and that the cell tower company, Wireless Edge of Orange County, be required to increase its bond by an additional one million dollars. The board approved. A public hearing will be held on the cell tower at a future date.

Michel Legrand, a township resident, appeared before the board with information on the health hazard presented by cell towers. “In Europe, the towns have a tower that radiates half what the American towers radiate,” Legrand said. “It is claimed by many experts that the amount of power radiated on American towers is excessive. The state of California and the city of Palm Beach, FL have ordered the lessening of cell tower radiation. I urge the board to think very hard about where the tower will be placed.”

Legrand said the proposed site is only half a mile from the Damascus Elementary School.

The township has already established the site to be behind the township building on Conklin Hill Road, a short distance from the school.

“All these matters will be taken up at the public hearing,” said board chairman Bill Gager.

In other township news, a local builder took money from a customer for a permit and never got the permit, according to township zoning officer Ed Lagarenne.

Builder George Epp put an extension on a home and will now go before District Justice Ronald Edwards to answer charges. The case could be a criminal one depending on circumstances that Lagarenne was not at liberty to reveal.

Also at the meeting, Gager announced that he sent a letter to Governor Ed Rendell, inviting him to visit the township and complaining that funds for necessary municipal needs never seem to reach townships in eastern Pennsylvania. “It appears that local municipalities northeast of Lackawanna County are being overlooked,” Gager wrote. “If the governor himself doesn’t come, we’re hoping he sends an important emissary.”