Purcellville, VA is ready to revisit bids for building a cell tower on the Basham Sims Wastewater Facility property, reported Loudoun Now, to close coverage gaps and generate revenue. The town is looking for a firm to enter into a 25-year lease, where it will be required to share any income it generates from up to five carriers co-located on the tower. To submit a response to the RFP click here.
The town first advertised for proposals last September but didn’t receive any responses by the November 2019 deadline. According to Town Manager David Mekarski, seven firms indicated they didn’t respond to the initial request because of the proposed contract terms. Loudoun Now reported that the town staff has been working to reconfigure the request for proposals to better align with modern market expectations.
The new request for proposals updated the length of the lease term to 25 years with up to four, five-year renewals, and indicates that monthly leases should not exceed $4,000. Mekarski said the annual increase on the lease rate has also been removed, leaving it up to the respondents to propose that rate. Additionally, the number of potential carriers allowed to install equipment atop the new tower was capped at five, formerly set at eight. The town also eliminated the annual licensing fee and special use permit fee from the contract terms.
“We feel very confident that from the conversations we had, we will have some competition,” he said. “There is interest, and there does appear to be a market.”
The RFP will remain open for approximately two months, according to town attorney Sally Hankins. The town is expected to begin evaluating responses by the end of April, reported Loudoun Now.
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