BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CRESCENT SPRINGS - An unfenced transmission tower in the middle of Crescent Springs' new park should be fenced by year's end to deter potential daredevils, City Administrator George Stewart said.
"There definitely will be a non-climbable, wrought iron fence put around the tower," Mr. Stewart said. "We've been in touch with Cinergy, and we're hoping they'll bear the cost. If not, we'll still put something up. We're hoping to get it straightened out in the next few weeks."
Cinergy spokeswoman Kathy Meinke said the utility is evaluating whether to pay for the fence.
The 90- to 100-foot transmission tower is in the middle of a parking lot that loops through Crescent Springs Community Park at Buttermilk Pike and Collins Road.
"You'd like to think the safeguard is common sense," said Ms. Meinke, who added she had never heard of problems at any of Cinergy's transmission towers.
Precautions taken
As another precaution, Mr. Stewart said the city "has purposely put nothing under the tower's wires, except parking."
Because some studies have raised questions about the health risks from electromagnetic fields, the city "just made the decision not to put anything under the wires that would keep kids there for an extended period of time," Mr. Stewart said.
Some studies have suggested that long-term exposure to high frequencies of electromagnetic waves can cause chronic diseases and certain cancers.
"You can find people who say electromagnetic fields are dangerous, and people who say they're not," Ms. Meinke said. "But in the studies finding a problem with EMFs, researchers haven't been able to duplicate the results, when they tried to (repeat) the studies with larger numbers."
Claire Moriconi, a Crescent Springs council member who will become mayor in January, said she has never heard any residents express concerns about possible dangers from the park's transmission tower, or any others in the city.
As plans for the park were discussed, Mrs. Moriconi said that some residents were more concerned about park visitors wandering onto their property, and falling into one of the ponds that can be found in the area.
The park's initial phase, paid for with just over $1 million in borrowed funds, includes playground equipment, a shelter, restrooms, maintenance storage and infrastructure.
A future phase, which the city hopes to pay for with $500,000 in donations, would include two tennis courts, two basketball courts, horseshoe pits, two sand volleyball courts and the possible enlargement of the children's playground structure.
Mrs. Moriconi, who has pledged to closely monitor city expenditures as mayor, said that most of the park funds have been spent.
"We're hoping that more money comes in from businesses and developers, so that we can finish the park," she said.
