Kirksville plans to replace an existing downtown water tower built in the 1950s, with a new one in 2019. This impacts AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless, who all co-locate on the water tower, paying the city $1,500 each per month, reported the Kirksville Daily Express.
Now, Assistant City Manager Ashley Young is proposing the construction of one new cellular communications tower, where all carriers can co-locate, to prevent multiple towers from being built instead.
Young said constructing a new tower would be expensive, costing between $300,000 and $600,000, depending on the type of tower, and city staff does not have the technical expertise needed to construct and maintain the structure.
“Fortunately, an alternative exists,” Young said. The proposed alternative is a partnership with a cellular communications tower construction and maintenance company, which would construct the tower itself in exchange for a percentage of the revenue Kirksville draws from lease agreements with the service providers, reported the Daily Express.
“It would be 50 percent less of the revenue we’re currently making,” City Planner Chayton True said.
Although this option decreases revenue for the city, it will help avoid large upfront costs and ongoing tower maintenance, noted Young.
By partnering with a construction company, there’s a possibility of constructing a camouflage tower. “It’s the only option that could actually add aesthetic benefit to the downtown,” Young said. Comments? Email us.
September 26, 2018
