Amherst school board votes to send Verizon wireless tower proposal to county after split vote

The Amherst County School Board voted to approve a contract with Verizon Wireless to place a cell tower on school property and move the proposal to the next level of review at the county, after a split vote during the board’s October meeting.

Board members and several residents debated whether the school campus was the appropriate site for the tower, balancing student safety and emergency-communications concerns against health questions raised by some community members. The board approved the contract in a vote the chair summarized as four in favor, two opposed and one abstention.

The matter of a Verizon tower at the Amherst County High School has been the subject of outreach and testing this fall. Doctor Wells, who presented the item to the board, said Verizon had performed a balloon test and a community meeting and that the division had run a public survey from Sept.…