On December 11, the county board voted to buy a communication tower for a dollar. It doesn’t plan to use the tower, however, and it will soon be removed, but it’s all part of a greater plan.
Contingent upon approval of a contract by the County Attorney’s Office, the county will buy from WDIO TV its tower on the hill above Grand Marais. WDIO no longer uses the tower, but it has been allowing WTIP Radio to use it rent-free and it has been leasing space to Verizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless has offered to build a new tower near the old one that will be able to support the kind of technology it will need in the future—and then give it to the county. In exchange, the county will grant Verizon rent abatement for a specified period of time. Until the new tower is up, Verizon will lease space on the old tower from the county.
Cook County Information Technology Director Danna MacKenzie told the Cook County News-Herald, “The county has a long-term management objective to own the land under towers and the towers themselves wherever possible and practical. This allows us to manage them to the best advantage of citizens. It allows us to assure the best spots for our public safety communications systems. It allows us to collect lease revenue from tenants such as cell phone providers that can be used to support the county’s emergency radio communications needs. It also helps us manage tower use to minimize the number of towers needed throughout the county.
“The purchase of the WDIO tower serves multiple purposes. It expedites the process of Verizon building a new tower that is needed for Grand Marais to be served by 4G wireless broadband services. Finding ways to support broadband access for all citizens is a priority of the county board. It allows the county to collect some lease revenue, estimated to be about $18,000 before the new tower is built. The cost of taking down the tower after Verizon builds the new one is estimated to be about $30,000. … The county will be entitled to any lease revenue from additional tenants that wish to locate on the new tower.”
MacKenzie said the new tower will be worth $300,000- 500,000. The old tower will remain in use until the new one is ready to go.
Leave a Reply