Notes on Planning Commission Meeting 3/21/11

Notes on Planning Commission Meeting 3/21/11 Patty Kubetz

I attended the Planning Commission Meeting last night. There was a lively discussion on several topics.

First was the potential sale of Lots 12 and 13 to Kiel Vet Clinic for expansion and various other uses. The plan presented includes expansion for more large animal treatment areas, expanded parking lot (allowing large trucks with trailers in and out of the lot), a boarding and daycare area, a crematory, an outdoor dog run, and a possible pet cemetery. The plan was approved, and will go before the Council at the April 12, 2011 meeting.

Second was the potential rezoning of Lots 8 and 9 in the Rockville Industrial Park for an assisted living facility similar to the one on Tekla Place in Kiel. The developer, Mike Check, along with the potential buyers, presented their plan to the Commission. They want to purchase both lots, have them re-zoned for residential use, and build an assisted living facility on the lots, with the possibility of expansion in the future. The Commission approved the rezoning; now it goes before the Council. This will be addressed at the April 5, 2011 Council Meeting.

The next item was the potential leasing of land from the City of Kiel to AT&T for a cell phone tower. This tower would be placed in a small area behind Tri-County Building Supply. The numbers that Dennis Dedering presented were $500 a month for 30 years. I raised my hand to comment and had the following information I shared with the Commission.

1) Aesthetic value. With the wanted/needed improvements to the City buildings (Fire Station, City Hall, Shopko Development, etc.) why would anyone want to have this 200 foot tower as one of the first things people see as they drive into Kiel from Sheboygan or Plymouth?
2) Financial value. $500 a month may seem like a good deal now, but with inflation realistically skyrocketing in the future, that $500 will be worth less and less as time goes on.
3) Health issues. This is of high interest to me, as I have seen and heard so much anecdotal evidence pointing to the dangers of the radio frequency waves (RF) and electromagnetic frequency waves (EMF). I was able, before the meeting, to print a copy of two studies done on the effect of radio frequency waves on humans and animals to back up my own stories. I presented this to the Commission, and there were those who listened with an open mind. The information I presented is as follows:
1. We currently have 4 cell towers in the City of Kiel.
2. We currently have 19 antennas in the City of Kiel.
3. There have not been many studies done on the health risks of the towers to humans and animals. While cell phone industry spokespeople continue to assert that the towers pose no health risks, nearly all scientists in this field would disagree, at the very least claiming that no such assurance can be given.
4. A study done in Germany found that the risk of cancers increased by 3.38 percent in the people living near the tower. Looking at the first 5 years, there was no significant risk , but for the following 5 years, the risk increased to 3.38%.
5. A study in Israel found a 4.15 percent increased risk of a variety of cancers in people living near a cell phone tower. Seven out of eight cancer cases were women.
6. A study in Germany, published in 1998, showed the effects of the RF waves/EMF waves. The herd was pastured near a cell phone tower. The resulting stress on the herd caused a “measurable drop in milk yield.” Relocating the herd restored the milk production. Moving them back to the original pasture recreated the problem.
7. I included several cases that I am familiar with near my mom's home in Bonduel, WI. One farmer, living across the road from a tower, reported that his previously healthy dairy herd had breeding problems, increased somatic cell counts, and decreased milk production within 4 months of the tower being erected. He placed a large sign with words to the effect of “Cell Phone Towers Killed My Farm” along the highway for a number of years.
8. A family living across the road from a tower lost their 21 year-old daughter to brain cancer within 4 years of the tower being erected. Now, several years later, they are facing losing another daughter to brain cancer as well.
9. Four miles south of the previous family, another family is dealing with multiple cases of cancer in their family, again, across the road from a cell phone tower.
4) I asked that the Commission take into account all the information before making a decision such as this, especially as they approved an assisted living facility not even a mile from the proposed tower site. As a final note on this, the Rockville subdivision is home to a large number of families with children. EMF and RF waves seem to cause the most destruction in children, as their bodies aren't fully developed. There have been tenuous ties made between families that have children who are autistic and the tower placement/exposure. The EMF and RF waves work against the body in the areas of weakness in each individual. That is one of the reasons that the studies don't show how dangerous the EMF and RF waves really are—they don't affect everyone in the same way.

The Commission agreed that, since the tower was only a proposal and they had no firm details or request from AT&T, that the issue would be tabled. I will continue to watch this and do all I can to protect the health of the citizens of Kiel.

The Commission approved the renewal of all of the Conditional Use Permits. There were a few minor changes, such as the incorrect name for one development, that will be addressed at the City Council Meeting on 3/22/11.

The Commission looked at a Certified Survey Map of the acreage east of Cemetery Road. A brief discussion on what to name the proposed street was tabled until such time as a business is actually located there.

Dennis gave a brief updated on the Shopko Development. Things seem to be moving along as they should at this point. The Planning Commission Meeting Public Hearing for TID Creation will be held on April 5, 2011 at 6:00pm. The Council Meeting will follow at 7:00pm.

The meeting then adjourned.