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.

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.

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-ofway.
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 7211 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

Building Permit Application

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September 9, 2014

-0245

-9004

3000

Map

241 Peninsula Farm Road

32H
!State

MD

Arnold
Sulla#

2664 Riva Road

IUNPWAJ

Site Address
Clly

Permit Application Center

rarcel

Block

12

llot(s)

135

Subdivision

'Zip

21012

Tenant Name

ranant Location

Ver!Zon

Property Owner Information

Company Name

Contractor's lnfonnatlon
Uc Type&#

'Company Name

Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Name

Name

Gregory J. Stewart
Mallillg Address

Malling Address

9034 Fort Smallwood Road

City

!Zip

'Stale

Pasadena

MD

City

1s1ate

21122

Telephone

IZtp

Telephone

410-439-5960
Eman

Email

lal@MCPS.org

Applicant l11format1on

Engineer lnformallon

Company Name

Company Name

Network Building & Consulting

Entrex

Name

Name

Sean Huohes

Colleen Khan, Project Manager

Mailing Address

Mailing Address

6095 Marshalee Drive I Suite 300

City

6600 Rockledge Drive, Suite 550

1s1a1e

MD

Elkrld!'.le

1z1p

21075

Telephone

Clly

1s1ete

Bethesda

MD

IZip

20817

Telephone

410-712-7092 Ext. 1017

202-408-0960

Email

Email

shughes@nbcllc.com

ckhan@enlrex.com

Architect Information

Pennlt Type.Check One

Company Name
0New

O Sprink!crs

O Addition

O Accessory Structure

Name
Mailing Address
City

Indicate heighls of:

'Stale

AlteraUon/Repalrs

[]

Sign

flip

Telephone
EmaTI

Principal

__

ft __

in

Accessory

__

ft __

in

Is this permit application to resolve a vlolallon?

Yes
No

"1

Desaibe Proposed Work:

Install a commercial telecommunications facility consisting of a 110' monoplne with a 35' x 75' equipment
compound to accommodate Verizon.

,r1.,

revised 2/05(09 jpr

Residential Building Permit Application Details

.

----- -

.- .

Property Datalls

:-_

',_

Comer lot

Yes

No

Public Water

Watelfront

Cl

Yes

No

Public Sewer

CnllcatArea

Yes

CJ

No

Wall

Bog Area

Cl

Yes

0No

_-

-I ~-. :. -~7_

121
[ZI
CJ

,---

--1

Width

Unlinfshed Ba6Elment

Finished Basement

1st Floor

2nd Roar

Zoning Cfasslficalion

3rd Floor

Name ofWateiway

Garage/Carport

Porch

ADCMap

Building

Number

Mayo System

Characteristics

Existing

Bldr, Height:

Sep~c

or stories

-1

Length

Siled
Other

Number
of Bsdrooms

Tola! Square Footage

Number of Ba lhs

Total Finished Area per ANSI27652003

Smoke Delectors

Cost of Work

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

Grading Permit#

Flreplace

Proposed Work to Include (cheek all that apply):

Heating Fuel Tyfl')/AC

Sprinklers

CJ

Yes

No

Eleclllc
O Yes O No
Commercial Building Permit Application Details

Use Group

Number of Stories

Plumbin!J

CJ

Yes

Healin.9./AC

Yes

C
CJ

No
No

NA

Heating Fuel

Conslructlon Type
ExlsUng Use

TolalSq.Ft.

71Deck
Proposed

l . -.- .

Construction Datalls

NA
~~~~~~~~-~~-~~
110'
NA

Bullcllng Height: Existing

Proposed

-----

Proposed Use

Number
or Fire Alarms

Number of Elevators

Tola! Square Footage

Number of Standpipes

Sprlnk I ered Area Square Footage

monopir

2500 sq
~~-=-~~~~~~~~~NA
~~~----~--~~~ft.

Smoke Oetaclors

The applicant hereby certifies as follows: 1) that he/she Is authorized to make this application; 2) that all information
provided by the applicant, whether on an original applicalfon or on an application for a revision, Is true and correct, induding
all Information on any_,..attachments...flereto;~)"1ha(ori"a"n-applicatioo---fOI'revision
and all attachments thereto, he/she has
....
brought to the attention of the Permit Application Center all changes being .made from the original application and
attachmeots thereto by highlighting those changes on this form and the attachm~s;~lJ!:ial he/she will comply with all
regulaljons of Anne Arundel County which are applicable hereto; 5) that he/she will parform'no ~rk on the above prq,erty
ot specifically described in this application; 6) that he/she grants County officials the right to enter"@to the property for the
purpose of Inspecting lhe work permitted and posting notices.

-bPrint Name:

----.

,;;.?:

> Ow

Dale:

r/Agent

Lawrence A. Alberts

l~a~lghbodloods
within Anne Arundel County have private deed reslrfcllo~ ~ants
regulating building oonstruclion. Anne
Arundel"Colin~~wlll-nof dele1_lll(ne.w~r or not the work covered by a p11m1U s~lfslle~tbMe~venanlS. Obtaining a building permit does not relieve
the tiomeownerof hlsresponsibilityfor---<lettnnlnlngJfi&Jiittml!O~enafilsaml private deed restrlcUons and c:ompty!ng wllh covenants. It ls
recommendedU1a1the Land Reeord& Office of lhe Anne Arundel County CleJll of the COllrt'&. office be checked to determlnewhaU\er or not QOvenantaor
reslrlcUons exist Iha! regulal& Ula proposedworl<. You may also wbh to check wllh your CMc or Homeowner's AssoclaUon to see If olher restridlons apply.

vlilestone Participates in MABE Annual Conference Blog News Miles ...

https://mail.google.com/ _/scs/mail-static/ _/js/k=gmaiLmain .en.X vwl ...

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Milestone Participates in MABE Annual Conference

October 3. 1013 04:07 PM

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This week, Milestone Marketing Director Jennifer Bond is in attendance at the

Hopecam

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

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

Market Your Sitff

jfM!rrluHi9

/.',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.

Dow,,load Available Sites

CM1:H9

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.

Connect with Milestone

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3/11/2015 10:22 PM