The lease of Vail, Iowa’s cell tower is up, reports DBRNews.com, and the town is making plans to install and manage its own Land Mobile Radio system. Rey Freeman of Rey Freeman Communications Consulting favors simply renewing that lease, saying that would dispel any worries about new construction. The Crawford County Board of Supervisors disagreed.
One of the benefits of the new approach, said supporters in a Tuesday discussion, is that the tower, land, and operations would all be under county control. Under the current arrangement, a number of different owners are involved. Supporters also like the idea of the county being able to decide what equipment and tenants would be allowed on the tower, and how diligently that equipment would be maintained.
The Supervisors also discussed land usage restrictions, costs, and their entanglement with the current lease with Freeman. While the region is primarily zoned as agricultural, participants said they did not anticipate any trouble getting a variance to allow them to build a new LMR tower. Regarding the purchase of a host site, Supervisor Ty Rosburg said, “I don’t think we’d have that much trouble if we’re offering a fair price, which we would be.”
Severing the relationship with Freeman could easily be the more costly issue, especially if Vail finds itself taken to court, reports DBRNews.com. Supervisor Jeri Vogt tallied up the costs of renewing the lease for another 20 years. If renewed, the county would be paying $1,400 per month. A two percent per year increase is built into the terms, bringing the total paid over the 20 years up to $408,195.81. Vogt recommended that the Board invest in the land and tower costs rather than spending that money on a lease.
The Board determined that although Freeman had been paid about $6,000 so far, he would be informed that the lease would not be renewed. The Supervisors then asked him to draft a plan to purchase land for a tower the county would own.
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