CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9

SPECIAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

31 July 2018

MINUTES

Chairman Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees Meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Creston School Gymnasium with the following members present:  Joanna Massie and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen. Shawn McDonough was out of town. Julie Tikka was out with medical concerns.  Also in attendance were: Tami Ward – Principal, Tammy Bartos – District Clerk, and approximately 25 visitors and staff.

Minutes:  Joanna Massie moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded approval of the minutes of the 7 June 2018 meeting.  Motion passed unanimously.

Principal Report:At our Board meeting April 12th I stated I would set up a meeting with interested board, school, and community members to meet with MontanaSky.  Through informal conversations with MontanaSky and board members, it was determined the notification of community members and a 30 day comment period would be addressed through the County permitting process; therefore, a meeting was not set up with MontanaSky and interested board, school and community members.

Through the permitting process, it was determined the County zoning requirements for 131 Creston Road did not require notification or a comment period.  When concerned community members notified me they had not been contacted, I asked that construction be halted until community members could ask questions and bring up concerns.

Information Item: A Uniform Complaint dated July 25, 2018 from Hana Kukla and Kingsley Rogers was received and copies distributed to the board.

Public Participation/Correspondence:Various members of the public addressed the board regarding the Wi-Fi tower and the MontanaSky Agreement.  Allison Nelson, stated dissatisfaction with inadequate notification of the public prior to the approval of the agreement.  Hana Kukla read from a separate Uniform Complaint Letter dated 7/27/18 (attached), besides the tower concerns she also addressed posting of school board minutes; Petr Kukla had concerns regarding the timing of the halt to the project and filing of County documents (a written correspondence was also received); Kingsley Rogers and Anthony Nelson had health concerns and recommended a satellite (K. Rogers) or wired internet (Nelson) be installed instead; Shane Rogers (also submitted written correspondence), had board residency concerns and property values; Heidi Rogers (also submitted written correspondence) had health concerns, as well as concerns that other companies can add on to an existing tower, and lack of public comment prior to the approval of the agreement; Ming Lovejoy submitted a written document (authored by Marcie Adams) and had concerns with a celltower including health risks, potential litigation, house valuation impacts and contract issues.

Written correspondence, all regarding the Wi-Fi tower, addressed to the board and received in time to be prepared for the board (this afternoon) from Petr Kukla (see above), Pauline Davidson (in support of the tower), and Shane and Heidi Rogers (see above) were distributed and read by the board.

Consideration of Action Items:

  • Tami Ward submitted a recommendation for a public comment period regarding the installation of a Wi-Fi tower. She described that the initial understanding of the agreement was that community members would receive a notice during the county permitting process with a mandatory comment period.  During the permitting process it was discovered the property where the tower is proposed did not have protective covenants requiring county notification or an open comment period.  For this reason she requested a hold on the Wi-Fi project until further input from the community is received.  The board had discussion then public comment was taken: Ming Lovejoy asked board to look at the contract and the potential to extricate the school from the contract, had recommendations regarding the noticing and instructions of the comment period; Heidi Rogers thanked the board for considering a 30 day comment period; Kingsley Rogers, Allison Nelson and Tricia Rogers wanted to be sure families of students were notified and the public at large; Allison Nelson requested families receive notice of health risks; Hana Kukla wanted to know when the dates of the comment period were.  The board had further discussion. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded to call a halt to the installation of the Wi-Fi tower and implement a 30-day written, mail in public comment period beginning August 1, 2018 and commencing on August 30, 2018, to include any written comments received thus far, and followed by a special board meeting to review the comments and take action regarding the tower agreement.

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

Matt Hartle, Chairman