The November 23 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Portland, OR was not at all what the tower company wanted to hear, especially right after it had installed new Sureline equipment at the leased tower site in Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon. Two months ago, Western Radio filed a lawsuit claiming it was arbitrary and capricious for the agency to revoke or refuse to renew leases at several spots in Forest Service land. But, according to Courthouse News, Judge Aiken agreed with the U.S. Forest Service and ordered Western Radio Services to “cease its operations at Gray Butte and remove Sureline’s equipment from that site immediately.”
“The Forest Service provided Western Radio with several notices of noncompliance with lease terms and afforded Western Radio an opportunity to cure its compliance issues,” Aiken wrote, according to Courthouse News.
The Forest Service also claims Western Radio owes it more than $29,000 in rent for the sites which the judge ordered the tower company to pay. She declined to order Western Radio to disgorge the money paid it by customers and tenants.
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