Unexpected carrier delays are leaving the village of Sleepy Hollow, IL without a cell tower and the much-anticipated revenue the tower would generate. According to the Daily Herald, a lease agreement between Sleepy Hollow and National Wireless Ventures (NWV) was approved in 2017. Per the terms of the lease, NWV agreed to construct a 125-foot cellular structure and to pay a base rate of $1,800 per month plus revenue share for co-location of wireless carriers.
Following full execution of the lease, however, village reports cited transfer of the lease from NWV to Tennessee-based Vogue Towers.
“The wireless infrastructure company completed engineering work and other steps in the due diligence process,” said Village President Stephan Pickett, “but never broke ground.” As a result of carrier delays, Vogue recently notified the village it would not be moving forward with the contract.
Village officials report the tower has been the subject of heated debates since 2015, when NWV first petitioned the village to construct the tower. On one side of the village fence, residents and trustees were skeptical about the need for the tower and expressed concern about the aesthetic impact the tower would have to the rural atmosphere. But allies on the other side of the fence advocated for the deal as a means for improving data speed and bandwidth capacity in the area. In addition, QuadCom emergency dispatch system lobbied in favor of the tower to provide reliable service for police and first responder communications.
Vogue Towers’ decision to nullify the deal is “a bump in the road, but the wheels aren’t coming off,” Pickett said.
As reported by the Daily Herald, Vogue Towers indicated the site remains a “desired location for a tower, leaving the door open to come back in the future should the situation change.”
December 4, 2019
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