By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — During their meeting on Oct. 12, the Lake Orion Community Schools board of education reviewed and discussed a proposed ground lease agreement with TowerCo 2013 LLC, for a cell tower on some district property located on East Clarkston Road.
The tower is expected to be a Verizon tower with an initial term of 10 years with multiple five year renewal terms.
The financial impact on the district includes 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 shovels hit the ground, and roughly it can take anywhere from one year to two years to get to that point,” said Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance John Fitzgerald. “The initial payment, upfront, covers Verizon’s first ten years. Any co-locators that occur, they will start that moment when they sign on and continue forward. In year 11, if everything is going well and we roll into a renewal, the first five year time frame, the month amount, at that time, in year 11, increases to $2,255 per month.”
This agreement comes after months of strategic planning within the district in which one of the areas of focus included finding additional forms of revenue.
Board president Jim Weidman, who has been vocal about wanting to find other revenue streams, was unsure of the two percent increase per year inquiring about whether there was a possibility to renegotiate that rate.
“I think, with the escalation of inflation and so on, we might find ourselves giving them a bargain down the road if we don’t have the option to at least take a look at it and have that conversation,” Weidman said.