precita.org

Meeting notes from Saturday, February 20th 2010 SUMMARY

David Robinson (285-5957) and Demece Garepis (641-0507) Co-Chairs. Email address changes to demecegarepis@yahoo.com

SUMMARY:

1. SFPD PVN Liasion: Sergeant Lynn O’Brien is our new SFPD group liaison.

2. PRECITA PARK AGGRESSIVE DOG REPORTING: Officers John Denny and Bruce Herndon strongly recommend anyone who has been a victim of aggressive or malicious dog behavior in Precita Park to please report. If you experience aggressive or menacing dog (on or off leash) behavior, if you ask, the dog owner by law must provide you their name, address, and dog vaccination record. Please report: 1) either by phone at 553.8090 or john.denny@sfgov.org. 2) Call Park Patrol Officer Marcus Santiago 242.6391. This is the best way to stop leash or unleashed dog aggression in the park.

3. NOISY CELL PHONE POLE AT ALABAMA/MULLEN: There is a large unattractive pole mounted boxes, as well as the cell antenna which has been mounted on a steel extension at the top of the pole. For further information we visited this internet site which maps cell towers throughout SanFrancisco http://www.city-data.com/towers/cell-San-Francisco-California.html Interestingly enough, there are maps of both 21 and 51 FCC registered cell tower locations in San Francisco, with numerous antenna and multiple frequencies. However the Mullen street location is not listed, nor mapped on this site. The site does note that not all towers must be registered in the FCC database, so the maps may not include all cell tower in the area. Then we consulted a more detailed listing of cell towers found at:http://sfocellsites.com/

The 5/25/09 map shows one tower on Mullen Street, which appears to be the only cell tower within Precita Valley. Other nearby cell towers appear to be located on taller buildings on Mission Street, and St. Luke's Hospital on C. Chavez. From our quick review of at this and other discussion sites, it's obvious that not all cell tower locations can be found in one central database. While this one is labeled "T-Mobile" the author has noted that ATT shares cell antenna at numerous T-Mobile locations. Our initial impression is that this tower is situated in a location that provides line-of-sight coverage for virtually all of Precita Valley, which is why it was probably placed on this pole. We assume the cell phone provider provides fees to PGE and/or the City to operate from this location and this fills an otherwise "gap" in their service area. There may be some viable alternatives to this tower, but would require further research and discussions with the mobile providers, as well as the City. There don't appear to be any cell towers at the top of the Hill, the existing antenna on top of Bernal Hill are microwave towers for transmission from downtown skyscrapers via Bernal, to relays further down the Peninsula on San Bruno mountain. It's conceivable that cellular antenna could be relocated there, but there would be significant costs of doing so. Another idea would be to perform a more detailed topographic survey of Precita Valley, with the goal of locating antenna location not immediately adjacent to private residences, such as Bernal Heights Boulevard. Finally, the recent complaints, and this discussion have focused on the aesthetics associated with the electrical distribution boxes and their placement on telephone poles immediately in front of homes. Further research and actual monitoring may be indicated regarding electromagnetic radiation, particularly for those residents closest to the antenna at the top of the phone pole on Mullen. Since the Mayor's office has taken a public interest in radiation emissions from cell phones, perhaps someone from his office could request a radiologic survey be performed by the City's Dept. of Public Health. These measurements should be performed within the homes of those individuals living closest to the source, that is, the floor of the closest home/apartment to the antenna at the top of the pole.



4. HIDDEN STOP SIGN: DPW has been notified about the Alabama stop sign obscured by large tree: request for tree pruning and moving sign closer to street curb.

5. There was a Peralta/Mullen Mini Park Clean Up– Saturday, February 27th.

6. PRECITA PARK MAJOR CLEAN UP: MARCH 6th SAT. 9AM-NOON - JOIN US!

Labels: Precita Park, Precita Valley Neighbors, pvn