North Fulton’s new emergency radio system is casting a pall over a group of Roswell residents in the path of its construction, and the trail may extend to other area neighborhoods.
About 90 residents of the Twelvestones subdivision off Holcomb Bridge Road have organized to fight placement of a 400-foot tower nearby, one of three the city must accommodate for the system. The group also has launched a website, twelvestones.info, and is circulating a petition.
Roswell city leaders were scheduled to vote on the location sites Monday, but that decision has been moved back to Aug. 12.
Nearby residents welcomed the reprieve, although they aren’t optimistic.
The towers are part of a plan adopted early this year by Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell to establish a new $16 million emergency radio network to replace the Fulton County system now in use.
Joyce Cross has spearheaded a drive to get the city to reconsider the location.
“I think this tower will be a blight on our neighborhood,” she said.
The proposed tower will sit across the street from Twelvestones, next to East Roswell Park on Fouts Road. City Administrator Kay Love said the city explored all alternate sites near the park, including Centennial High School, north of Holcomb Bridge.
The other two towers are slated for sites away from neighborhoods: one at the city fleet yard and another at a fire station.
Two other sites have been confirmed for the north Fulton service area, one in Cobb County and another on the Alpharetta-Johns Creek border. Both are on existing tower sites, said Terry Sult, director of public safety for Sandy Springs.
Other new sites, possibly from two to four, are being considered, he said.
“We’re trying to go with existing towers where we can,” Sult said.
City leaders in north Fulton say the county system is more than 20 years old and is plagued with problems. They also say the move to form their own system came after two years of talks with Fulton County proved fruitless.
Just last month, Fulton County awarded a $19 million contract to Motorola to begin replacing its system. Angela Barrett, director of the county emergency 911 system, said the county plans to partner with the northern cities to avoid duplication of services.
Both sides have been in talks to see whether they can coordinate. Plans call for having the north Fulton system operating in about 18 months.
The timetable does not sit well with some Roswell residents.
“I’m concerned they’re trying to push this thing through so quickly,” said Twelvestones resident Mike Mesite. “It’s my understanding this is going to be like a 20-story building across the street from our subdivision.”
Residents also say the city sprung the news at the last minute, without posting signs at the site. About 50 attended a public information meeting Tuesday to air their concerns.
Susan Booth said she fears Roswell will sublease some of the space on the tower to wireless companies to help recoup the cost.
“It would’ve been nice if they could’ve found a more industrial site for the tower like they did for the others,” she said.
Besides defending the site selection, Love, the Roswell city administrator, said the north Fulton cities are committed to avoiding duplication with the county’s system.
She reiterated that cities were told five years ago the county was going to scrap its radio system, but there were never any suggestions for a replacement.
“Fulton County may have had their own timeline, but they weren’t moving forward with anything,” Love said. “We wanted to have a system where we had a seat at the table and were in control of the future.”
About the Author
