4 Lease of Radio Transmitter Towers on Toronto Island
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CITY CLERK Clause embodied in Report No. 18 of the Administration Committee, as adopted by the Council of the City of Toronto at its meeting held on December 4, 5 and 6, 2001. 4 Lease of Radio Transmitter Towers on Toronto Island (Ward 28 - Toronto Centre-Rosedale) (City Council on December 4, 5 and 6, 2001, adopted this Clause, without amendment.) The Administration Committee recommends the adoption of the following joint report (October 25, 2001) from the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, the Commissioner of Corporate Services and the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services, subject to a clause being included in the final lease document that if a suitable City-owned transmitter site becomes available during the term of the Agreement CHIN Radio and Fairchild Communications be requested to relocate to these sites at no cost to the City of Toronto: Purpose: To direct staff to negotiate and execute a lease on Toronto Islands to CHIN Radio, AM 1540, and Fairchild Communications, AM 1430 for the continued location of radio transmitter towers on City of Toronto Property. Financial Implications and Impact Statement: The existing leases on the two subject properties on Toronto Island generate a rental revenue of $209,500 per annum. Should Council approve the new leases, a new rental rate for these locations will be developed on the basis of appraisal reports, and be the subject of negotiations with the two Radio Networks. There are no other financial implications of the proposed lease renewals. The Acting Chief Financial Officer and Acting Treasurer has reviewed this report and concurs with the financial impact statement. Recommendations: It is recommended that: (1) staff be directed to negotiate and execute an agreement in a form and content, satisfactory to the City Solicitor, the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the Commissioner of Corporate Services with CHIN Radio, AM 1540, for the continued use of an approximate 10 acre site on Toronto Islands for the purpose of the operation of an AM Radio Transmitter all in accordance with the regulations of the Canadian Radio and Telecommunication Commission; Toronto City Council 2 Administration Committee December 4, 5 and 6, 2001 Report No. 18, Clause No. 4 (2) staff be directed to negotiate and execute an agreement in a form and content satisfactory to the City Solicitor, the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the Commissioner of Corporate Services with Fairchild Communications, AM 1430, for the continued use of an approximate 6 acre site on Toronto Islands for the purpose of the operation of an AM Radio Transmitter all in accordance with the regulations of the Canadian Radio and Telecommunication Commission; (3) these licensees be required to operate their radio transmitters within the safety guidelines as outlined in Industry Canada Safety Code Six Regulations, and that the licensees be required to conform to all current and future guidelines on the emission of Radio Frequency (RF) Radiation adopted by Industry Canada; and (4) the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto. Background: Both CHIN Radio AM 1540 and Fairchild Communications AM 1430 have leases on City of Toronto property located on Toronto Island which expire at the end of December 2001. Both Radio Stations have requested new lease contracts to allow them to continue to operate their radio transmitters and service the City of Toronto market in the AM Radio sector. CHIN Radio AM 1540 occupies a site measuring approximately 10 acres located on the Island Water Treatment Plant owned by the City and operated by the Works and Emergency Services Department. CHIN serves a large multicultural audience and broadcasts in 23 languages to their primary market within the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Their installation on the Toronto Island has been located there since 1984 and complies with all current CRTC and Industry Canada Regulations. Fairchild Communications AM 1430 occupies a site measuring approximately six acres located on the Parks and Recreation Property adjacent to the Bird Sanctuary near the Island Water Treatment Plant owned by the City. Fairchild also serves a large multicultural audience and broadcasts in 21 languages to their primary market within the City of Toronto and the GTA. Their installation on the Toronto Island has been located there since 1970 and complies with all current CRTC and Industry Canada Regulations. The Toronto Board of Education leases a site near both of these transmitters and in 1997/1998 constructed a new school facility to accommodate the Island Residents and the Island Natural Science School. This facility was constructed at substantial cost to the former Board of Education for the City of Toronto. While the school site in this area was being finalized and the design of the school was proceeding, the issue of Radio Frequency (RF) Emissions from the two radio transmitter sites was raised as a potential public health issue. In response, the Toronto Board of Education commissioned studies on the RF Emissions from these installations and determined that the site and the radio transmitters conformed with all relevant legislation and the Industry Canada Safety Toronto City Council 3 Administration Committee December 4, 5 and 6, 2001 Report No. 18, Clause No. 4 Code Six. Despite the concerns of some parents and other Island Residents, the Board proceeded to make a substantial investment in the construction of the new school. Since the school has been opened, there are some Toronto Island Residents that do not send their children to this School due to their concerns of RF Emissions and their potential impact on human health. A group of concerned Toronto Island Residents formed a Radio Tower Committee and have requested that the City of Toronto not grant new leases for the Radio Transmitters and that the installations be removed at the conclusion of the current lease period on December 31, 2001. As a result of this request, City of Toronto staff have conducted a more rigorous process in evaluating the lease renewals and involved staff from the Public Health Division in the process. Comments: Radio Frequency Emissions (RF Emissions): In Canada, RF Emissions from broadcasting and telecommunication systems are regulated by Safety Code Six: Limits of Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields as administered by Industry Canada. All Broadcasters and other communications companies are required to comply with Safety Code Six regulations on their RF Emissions. While the citizens in a large urban area are constantly exposed to a range of RF Emissions, there is much debate over the impacts on human health of RF Emissions. In 1999, the Board of Health considered the siting of antennas for cellular telephones, and recommended a “prudent avoidance” policy with respect to the siting of such antennas. This recommendation calls for emission levels to be kept 100 times below those permitted under Safety Code Six. The Medical Officer of Health was asked to provide an opinion on the renewal of the subject leases and noted the leases meet the standards under Industry Canada’s Safety Code Six. Further, the Medical Officer of Health noted that the City has not yet adopted a policy of “prudent avoidance” in the siting of cellular telephone antennas, nor has the Board of Health considered a “prudent avoidance” policy on RF Emissions from AM Radio Transmitters. Although the City cannot require adhesion to a policy of prudent avoidance, the Medical Officer of Health has recommended that, where possible, RF Exposure levels should be minimized and kept well below the limits set out in Safety Code Six. Emission levels from these two transmitters are well below Safety Code Six levels, with peak electric field emission levels at 27.5 percent of the current Safety Code Six limits, while average electric field emission levels are at 20.2 percent of the Safety Code Six limit. On Magnetic field measurements, the peak and average levels were identical at 8.5 percent of the Safety Code Six limits. Given that there are concerns over the RF Emission levels from both Toronto Island Residents and the Island Water Plant, staff will include the requirement for annual testing of RF Emissions by both CHIN and Fairchild to ensure that they remain in compliance with RF Emission levels as stipulated within Safety Code Six. Toronto City Council 4 Administration Committee December 4, 5 and 6, 2001 Report No. 18, Clause No. 4 Mitigation of RF Emission Levels: As a part of the investigation of these issues, the broadcast engineers from CHIN and Fairchild Communications were asked to investigate mitigation measures that could be employed to reduce the level of RF Emissions from these transmitter facilities. The potential mitigation measures included shielding of the towers, landscaping, berming, tree planting or other measures that would further reduce the RF Emission levels. The broadcast engineers concluded that there was no useful mitigation measures that could be employed on these sites that would reduce the level of RF Emissions without drastically affecting the power levels and coverage area of the two radio stations which would make them non-compliant with their CRTC approvals. Alternate Site Locations: The Broadcast Engineers were also requested to review other potential sites within the Greater Toronto Area for these broadcast facilities and also other sites on the Toronto Islands, further removed from the School Site. An extensive alternate site investigation was conducted in February 2000 by Fairchild Communications as part of their licence application for another frequency. They concluded that no other viable transmitter location was available within the Greater Toronto Area.