By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education authorized a ground lease agreement with TowerCo 2013 LLC for a cell tower on district-owned property on East Clarkston Road during their Oct. 26 regular meeting.
The original agreement, which was reviewed by the board during their meeting on Oct. 12, included an initial term of 10 years with multiple five year renewal terms.
The financial impact on the district was expected to include an initial $3,500 fee that would allow TowerCo to do site testing and complete compliance work with Oakland Township. From there, the district would maintain a monthly rent from TowerCo for $1,850 a month with an automatic two percent increase per year. Once the ten year time frame has ended, monthly rent would increase to $2,255.
When reviewing the information, board president Jim Weidman expressed concern that the percentage increase on monthly rent was too low and suggested the district try to renegotiate a higher percentage.
With that suggestion, the district did renegotiate and the board approved a two and a half percent increase on monthly rent per year (a half percent increase from the original negotiated price) and after the ten year time frame expires the monthly rent would instead by $2,683.16 (a roughly $428 increase from the originally negotiated rent price).