Seeking better digital connectivity across town, particularly for emergency personnel, the Fort Atkinson (WI) City Council approved a plan to construct a 70-foot monopole cell tower. As the Daily Jefferson County Union reports, the new tower will be constructed next to a 50-foot water tower that engineers determined cannot host the cell tower equipment itself. The location for both structures is on a Zaffke Street site that is already zoned for industrial use.
Construction of the new tower is expected to begin in early 2023, with a completion date anticipated for March 2024. Fort Atkinson will earn $1,300 per month in tower revenue. The city has said it intends to deposit the lease monies in the general fund for the first five years. After the initial five years, the lease terms allow it to be renewed in five year increments up to 25 years. A 10 percent escalator clause will raise the city’s earnings over time.
Although zoned industrial, some nearby neighbors complained to the City Council about the cell tower placement. “Everything is going to be in somebody’s backyard and we are not disregarding their thoughts,” responded Council member, Megan Hartwick, “but we have to weigh that against the needs of the city as a whole … People need to know how much work has been put in on the city’s side to get every question answered.”
“Our data shows that Fort Atkinson has long been a problem area for our customers,” confirmed UScellular’s Senior Optimization Engineer, Jeff Lohr. “The northwest Fort Atkinson site is critical to improve signal level and quality. Residents and businesses in this area have poor call reliability and slow data speeds because of the poor signal and quality.”
“Currently this area has had many customer complaints, and our engineering analysis shows there is a lack of coverage around Fort Atkinson,” Shruti Mada, senior manager of engineering with UScellular, told the Union. “Our engineering solution is to invest in three new tower locations. These additional towers are all required to provide seamless 4G and 5G coverage, and that includes this requested monopole location. This monopole is required to ensure good coverage in northwest Fort Atkinson, including Madison Avenue, Robert Street and Banker Road.”
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