Vital statistics: city gets $24,000 per year for lease on water tower
Earlier this week, the McCook City Council unanimously approved a lease agreement with Verizon Wireless to place equipment on a water tower, reported the McCook Gazette. The agreement is projected to bring in $24,000 in annual revenue for the city over at least a five-year period.
Mayor Mike Gonzales questioned how many antennas would be placed on the tower and Utilities Directors Jesse Dutcher indicated that the new Verizon install would bring the east water tower inventory to three, with four on the west water tower. Verizon’s equipment will join McCookNet and Pinpoint, who already have space on the tower.
Councilman Gene Weedin asked if the rent the city was charging Verizon was comparable to other companies. Schneider indicated that the rent allotment is similar to others and noted that the agreement also included an escalator clause that increased rent over time.
Mayor Gonzales also questioned the function of the equipment and Schneider specified that the project stemmed from an original effort to construct a cell phone tower. “At one point in time, they had talked about the possibility of constructing a tower. We were working with a firm, I think the name was SBA, and they were actually building a tower on behalf of Verizon. Well, they pulled that and decided to go with the antenna getting placed on the water tower instead…The hospital, in particular, will benefit from this so it’s a good thing.”
December 11, 2017
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