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September 3, 1999 News Release: "Judge Encourages Parties to Mediate Lawsuit Involving Sprint's Illegal Cell Tower in Missouri City, Texas" |
| Time Line of Events surrounding illegal construction of Sprint cell tower in the Dewalt Cemetery in Missouri City, Texas |
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| 1996 | Feb 15 | The Lake Olympia Civic Association (LOCA) deeds to the Dewalt Cemetery Foundation a 50 foot wide easement in Reserve A on Parkview Lane to serve as an egress and ingress road for the purpose of mowing the cemetery. However, the Foundation agrees as part of the deed to make no improvement to the easement without prior consent from LOCA. |
| 1997 | Jan 29 | The Dewalt Cemetery Foundation is dissolved by the Texas Secretary of State for failure to conform with required procedures. |
| Oct 7 | R. Grant Roane, representing himself as Chairman, President, and Director of the Dewalt Cemetery Foundation, signs an agreement with Eldon Prax, Director of Engineering and Operations for Sprint Spectrum LP, authorizing Sprint to build and operate a cell tower in the historic Dewalt Family Cemetery in Missouri City, TX. | |
| 1998 | April 27 | The Dewalt Cemetery Foundation applies for a plat to build a cell tower. Over the next few months, they are given preliminary approval on the condition that they first pave either an easement from Parkview Lane or a longer stretch of Senior Road. |
| June 17 | City Planning Director Wayne Neuman meets with the LOCA board. The Board unanimously votes to deny the proposed improvement to the easement. They notify the city of this decision in a letter dated June 18. | |
| July 21 | Sprint initiates construction in the Dewalt Cemetery. City Inspector Paul McKeever shows Sprint’s workers a copy of the state law requiring that a plat be duly recorded before any construction project can begin. The workers leave. | |
| July 22 | Sprint begins construction at 6 a.m., in violation of city sound ordinance. City police and inspectors are told they have no jurisdiction because the land is outside the city limits. Sprint tells the City and residents to sue if they want to stop construction. At another meeting with the LOCA board, Sprint offers to provide landscaping and a fence. Residents Barbara Hordern and Shelly Maxfield object. When Barbara Hordern mentions the violation of the noise ordinance, Sprint’s Charles Sherwood responds, “If you have trouble getting up in the morning, I’ll be happy to personally come over and get you out of bed.” | |
| July 27 | Sprint is notified its construction is in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, as it has not completed the site assessment required by FCC regulations; Sprint knows about this because of similar problems in the Houston Heights. Sprint responds by bringing out a crane and two backhoes. They erect the tower that day. Code enforcement officer Paul McKeever and a Missouri City policeman hand-deliver a summons requiring Sprint appear in city court on August 20 to face fines of up to $500 a day for building without a recorded plat. | |
| July 28 | The City serves each construction worker with a summons. They bring in two more tractors. | |
| Aug 3 | Jim Hordern asks City Council to file suit forcing Sprint to stop its illegal activities. Sprint also appears before Council. Fort Bend County resident Julie Scofield presents evidence to council that cell towers reduce property value by at least 10 percent. | |
| Aug 11 | At Sprint’s request, several Southwestern Bell trucks show up to install a phone line. They are unable to do so because the city has denied power to the site. Sprint also comes out to the site. The FCC orders Sprint to cease and desist all activity at the site pending the required site review. | |
| Sept 8 | City Council votes to begin annexation of the Dewalt Cemetery. | |
| Sept 24 |
Sprint installs a loud generator that can be heard blocks away. Sprint requests another meeting with LOCA. |
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| Sept 25 | Sprint installs a radio dish antenna on its cell tower. | |
| Oct 14 | Sprint and Grant Roane meet with the representatives of the LOCA board and offer to build an 8-foot fence, add some landscaping, and make a donation, much as it offered at earlier meetings. The representatives promise to take up these issues at the next regular board meeting Oct. 27. | |
| Oct 18 | Grant Roane erects an 8-foot fence on Lake Olympia’s side of the fence line, despite deed restrictions limiting fences to 6 feet in height. Something is also installed at the tower, as residents again begin hearing a distinct hum. | |
| Oct 22 | At residents’ request, the City Planning and Zoning Commission sends out an inspector to see if Sprint has installed another generator. Paul McKeever discovers that Sprint has diverted power from an irrigation system to get electricity for the tower. | |
| Nov 2 | The City annexes the cemetery. Jim Hordern presents legal cases to Council that show that the tower is not grandfathered because it was illegally built. | |
| Nov 16 | Jim Hordern asks City Council for an update. Mayor Owen refuses to give any information. | |
| 1999 | March 24 | The Maxfields call the police after they observe Sprint working on the tower at 9:30 p.m. Sprint’s workers leave before the police arrive, but their lights remain on all night. |
| April 7 | Police are called at 7:40 a.m. after Sprint is observed working on the tower. | |
| April 22 | Sprint is again observed working on the tower. | |
| April 23 | The City is notified Sprint is working on the tower at 11 a. | |
| April 27 | Sprint is again observed working at 3:40 p.m. | |
| May 10 | Sprint puts another loud generator on the tower after a storm knocks out power to the area. They remove it only when power is restored. | |
| June 3 | City Attorney Mary Ann Pruett is quoted in the Fort Bend Sun as saying that Sprint has until July 8, 1999, to comply with platting requirements. She also claims the company and the homeowners association are “very close to reaching an agreement,” at which time the city will certify the structure. | |
| June 7 | James Hordern and Barbara Burgower Hordern file suit in Fort Bend County Court against Sprint, the Dewalt family, and Missouri City seeking removal of the illegal structure, a declaratory judgment, actual and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and court costs. | |
| June 16 | Jim Hordern meets with the homeowners association and asks them to either join in the suit or at least refrain from assisting Sprint. | |
| June 17 | Shelly Maxfield calls the police when she spotted Sprint’s white van at the cell tower around noon. They leave before the police arrive, but Officer Salinas calls Shelly later to tell her that the city now says Sprint may work on its tower so long as it doesn’t add to it. | |
| July 6 | Barbara Hordern sees an unmarked, white pick up truck at the entrance to the cemetery at 5 p.m. It is gone by 5:30. | |
| July 8 | Shelly Maxfield speaks with city attorney Mary Ann Pruett, who tells her that Sprint has reached an agreement with the Lake Olympia Civic Association, and the city had granted them an extension. Jim Hordern receives a call from Fort Bend Sun reporter Seshadri Kumar, telling him that based on the agreement Sprint has reached with LOCA, the city has issued it a certificate of compliance with zoning regulations for the illegal tower. Shelly Maxfield speaks with Joyce Norris, who is now the only Lake Olympia resident on the LOCA board; she confirms a deal had been struck with Sprint for little more than had been rejected in June 1998: Sprint would provide landscaping in October 1999. Sprint would pay all LOCA’s legal fees. They would also provide some sort of marker at the entrance to the cemetery similar to the entrance to the subdivisions. This agreement had already been signed the day Jim Hordern met with the association. Their attorney, Terry Sears, was supposed to contact Hordern, but never did so. | |
| July 22 | After several neighborhood meetings, Scott and Shelly Maxfield, Fariman Rasolkhani and Susan Saebi, Kelly Miller and Don Waterman, George and Karen Karr, and Barbara and Vernon Doyle join the Horderns in their suit against Sprint and hire Houston attorney Thomas Sankey, the attorney who represented a Bunker Hill family in a similar suit against GTE. That suit resulted in a jury verdict of $1.4 million against the cell tower company. | |
| July 29 | Shelly Maxfield notices an unmarked white van apparently surveying the road adjacent to the cell tower. Because she must leave, she notifies Barbara Hordern. Hordern photographs the van, at which time the two men inside the van leave the lot, and begin driving very slowly to the corner of Misty Hollow, then back to the Horderns’ home. There are no markings on their van or on their equipment. Hordern calls the Missouri City Police Department, and Officer David Avera responds. By this time, Don Waterman sees the activity and joins Hordern. The workers tell Avera they are working on the cell tower, “tying in the streets.” This means they are mapping the area, recording existing phone lines, etc., they tell Avera, who passes this on to Hordern and Waterman. Avera’s supervisors tell him that as long as the workers aren’t adding to the tower structure, they should be allowed to work. He acknowledges that this is probably in preparation for additional work on the tower, but says the city attorney has not authorized action in this instance. | |
| July 30 | After a hearing, Texas State District Judge Brady Elliott grants a temporary restraining order barring improvements of any kind to the street leading to the tower. An injunction hearing is set for Friday, August 5. Attorney Thomas Sankey also files an amended petition naming Sankey as counsel and adding the following plaintiffs to the Horderns’ lawsuit: Scott and Shelly Maxfield, Kelly Miller and Don Waterman, Fariman Rasolkhani and Sousan Saebi, George and Karen Karr, and Barbara and Vernon Doyle. Lake Olympia Civic Association and the Lake Olympia Development, N.V. join the defendants. | |
| Aug 5 | Judge Elliott extends the TRO at the defendants’ request until Sept. 3, the rescheduled date for the temporary injunction hearing. He insists that Sprint’s attorneys also agree to abide by the restraining order. Depositions are set for August 25. | |
| Aug 25 | Sworn deposition testimony is taken from the civic association president, the owner of the property management company and Grant Roane. | |
| Oct 18 | Parties meet for mediation. A settlement involving moving the tower away from residential property and reimbursement of fees is discussed. Ultimately, the parties agree on the terms; however, Sprint insists on a very strict confidentiality agreement which would prohibit all parties from discussing any of the facts of the case, even those already publicly known, and would also require all parties to agree to ask the court to seal the records. This is unacceptable to plaintiffs and the city. | |
| Oct 29 | The Board of Directors for the Lake Olympia Civic Association votes to change the rules by which directors will be elected once equalization occurs. The new bylaws allow nonresidents to serve as the developer’s representatives on the board, but require residents to live in the subdivision they represent. The new rules allow everyone to vote for all seven positions, thus permitting the developer to use his block of votes to control positions in areas in which he owns little or no property. They also mandate that future changes to the bylaws must be approved by 60 percent of the members. | |
| Late Nov |
LOCA asks plaintiffs’ attorney to agree to postpone a summary judgment hearing scheduled to determine whether or not equalization was reached in March 1999 pending imminent settlement of the case. The hearing is rescheduled for Jan. 14, and later moved to Jan. 28. | |
| Dec 8 | Workers are observed checking utility poles in the cemetery near the cell tower. | |
| Dec 9 | Several trucks are observed entering the cemetery and several men are observed near the cell tower. | |
| Dec 10 | Again several trucks are observed in the cemetery, one of them near the site Sprint had proposed to move the tower. | |
| Dec 22 | The Lake Olympia Civic Association sends out a newsletter announcing that equalization was declared by the developer on Dec. 2, and calling for elections January 11. The newsletter contains a lengthy campaign speech by the current board president, pushing the candidates already on the board. Nowhere does it mention that two of these candidates are nonresidents. | |
| Dec 28 | The city time stamps a building permit, allowing Sprint to resume construction at its cell tower site. | |
| Dec 29 | Several trucks are seen entering cemetery. Some drivers say they are “pouring a driveway.” Another tells Sousan Saebi they are moving the cell tower, but he tells Barbara Hordern that “Sprint is putting another tower in back of you.” | |
| Dec 30-31 | Several trucks and a backhoe begin digging at the site. Concrete is poured in front of the existing site. | |
| 2000 | Jan 4 | Construction resumes at 8:30 a.m., with a backhoe active. The tower is lighted throughout the night. Over the next few days a street is built from Parkview Lane to the existing cell tower site. |
| Jan 11 | LOCA’s attorney refuses to postpone elections pending the outcome of a hearing scheduled for Jan. 14 to determine whether equalization occurred in March. The developer offers to withdraw one of his candidates, however. This is not done. Instead, LOCA’s attorney uses the meeting to attack plaintiffs. LOCA does agree to postpone elections, however, when homeowners insist on voting on the motion. The vote is unanimous. | |
| Jan 28 | Judge Brady Elliott rules that equalization did in fact occur in March 1999. This ruling may nullify anything the board did after that time that was not in the course of normal business, including its agreement with Sprint. | |
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More Views of the Illegally Constructed Sprint Cellular Tower in Missouri City, Texas
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| Email address for more info on the Missouri City, Texas battle with Sprint is bhordern@reporters.net |
