{"id":9871,"date":"2017-04-08T11:36:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T18:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=9871"},"modified":"2017-04-08T11:37:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T18:37:44","slug":"group-opposes-cell-tower-at-mission-sports-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=9871","title":{"rendered":"Group opposes cell tower at Mission Sports Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"storyFeaturedPhoto\">\n<div id=\"storyFeaturedPhotoDesc\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/48622missionsignlady.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9872\" alt=\"48622missionsignlady\" src=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/48622missionsignlady.jpg\" width=\"700\" height=\"509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/48622missionsignlady.jpg 700w, https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/48622missionsignlady-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Mission resident Anna Bruic holds up a sign protesting a proposed cell tower at the Mission Sports Park. She was part of a group who came to council Monday night to express their concerns.<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014\u00a0Image Credit: Kevin Mills Photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-url=\"http:\/\/www.missioncityrecord.com\/news\/418667663.html\" data-title=\"Group opposes cell tower at Mission Sports Park - Mission City News\" data-description=\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpokesperson said group realizes cell towersa way of life, but cannot support one so close to an area where children play and people live.\t\t\t\t\t\">\n<div id=\"atstbx\" role=\"region\">\n<div>by\u00a0 Kevin Mills &#8211; Mission City Record, Mission, B.C.\u00a0posted\u00a0Apr 7, 2017\u00a0at\u00a011:00 AM\u2014\u00a0updated\u00a0Apr 8, 2017\u00a0at\u00a010:45 AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"storyBody\">\n<p>A group of residents, living in the area of the Mission Sports Park, are concerned about plans to build a\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.missioncityrecord.com\/news\/415355234.html\" target=\"_blank\">new cell tower<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Kim Kokoszka spoke to council on Monday night, on behalf of the group, to voice their strong opposition to the planned<a href=\"http:\/\/www.missioncityrecord.com\/news\/366084041.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>\u00a0tower<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are here to request your help to protect the children and the adults who use the park, as well as the nearby residents,\u201d said Kokoszka.<\/p>\n<p>She said the group realizes cell phone towers are a way of life, but cannot support one so close to an area where children play and people live.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudies show that cell towers can cause cancer, infertility, brain and nervous system problems, bio-mechanical problems and developmental and learning behavior problems,\u201d she told council, adding that the risk is grave.<\/p>\n<p>While she confirmed the type of energy emitted from a cell tower is considered safe under Health Canada\u2019s safety code 6, she said the code doesn\u2019t \u201cprotect our children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kokoszka told council the code is currently under review and has never been updated.<\/p>\n<p>She said it\u2019s not a responsible location for a tower because it is in the middle of a community sports park, close to many homes and the thousands of kids who use the park are at risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery single child will be exposed to radiation from this proposed cell tower. Why are we allowing Freedom Mobile to put our children at risk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The proposed tower was first discussed during a Feb. 20 meeting. Council heard that Freedom Mobile proposed to locate a 25 metres (82 feet) tall tower at the sports field located at 8020 Oyama Street next to the parking by the south end of the property. The tower would accommodate three flush mounted antennas, two RRUs (remote radio units) and, one future microwave antenna at the top of the pole. A light fixture would be installed on the pole at a similar height as the other lights in the park.<\/p>\n<p>A public information meeting took place on March 16 and council will receive a report on the feedback at a future council meting.<\/p>\n<p>While he cannot speak for all of council, Mission Mayor Randy Hawes said, after the meeting, that from his perspective there is no risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom what I understand, the radiation \u2013 if you want to call it that \u2013 the waves given off by your television channel changer are much greater than you would ever get from a cellphone tower,\u201d said Hawes.<\/p>\n<p>He added that WorkSafe, Industry Canada, the government and cancer agencies all seem to feel that this is not a carcinogenic.<\/p>\n<p>Cell tower construction is under the jurisdiction of Industry Canada so the final decision isn\u2019t necessarily in council\u2019s hands. All Mission can do is voice its concurrence or non-concurrence on the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Kokoszka said the fight against the tower is not over. The group plans to have a specialist on radiation make a presentation to council on April 18.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The group is also collecting signatures for a petition. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1834465420151966\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">There is an online petition on Facebook on the Mission Sports Parks Neighbours page.<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.missioncityrecord.com\/news\/418667663.html\">http:\/\/www.missioncityrecord.com\/news\/418667663.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/missionsportspark.jpg\" width=\"657\" height=\"890\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mission resident Anna Bruic holds up a sign protesting a proposed cell tower at the Mission Sports Park. She was part of a group who came to council Monday night to express their concerns. \u2014\u00a0Image Credit: Kevin Mills Photo by\u00a0 Kevin Mills &#8211; Mission City Record, Mission, B.C.\u00a0posted\u00a0Apr 7, 2017\u00a0at\u00a011:00 AM\u2014\u00a0updated\u00a0Apr 8, 2017\u00a0at\u00a010:45 AM A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,317,415,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antenna","category-children","category-freedom-mobile","category-health_and_safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9871"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9874,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9871\/revisions\/9874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}