Roseville

Cell tower could bring revenue for city

By Sara Kandel
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Sara Kandel The 150-foot AT&T cell tower on the old Pierce Elementary property near Martin and Gratiot may be coming down, with a similar one possibly taking up residence on city property behind the police station. Photo by Sara Kandel The 150-foot AT&T cell tower on the old Pierce Elementary property near Martin and Gratiot may be coming down, with a similar one possibly taking up residence on city property behind the police station.

ROSEVILLE — Roseville might be bringing in some extra revenue in the coming years if they are able to get a contract for a cell tower on city land.

City Controller Bob Cady announced the possible deal, which would put a 150-foot AT&T cell tower on city property behind the police station, at the special council meeting on Feb. 7.

“AT&T contacted us around the 17th of January about putting a cell tower behind the police station,” Cady said. “We would make money having the cell tower because AT&T’s lease would provide us some money, and then there is the savings on the other side, about a $40,000 swing between the two of them.”

According to Cady, the offer was made after Roseville Community Schools declined to renew the lease they currently have with AT&T for a current structure on Martin Road, just east of Gratiot, on the property where Pierce Elementary used to be located.

“The school district is trying to market the property, but the tower is located right in the middle of the property,” Cady explained. “What (AT&T is) trying to do is replace the one they have to take down that’s on the school property.”

District officials would not confirm whether the lease had been renewed at press time. They said they had no comment on the AT&T contract or if they were trying to sell or lease out the Pierce Elementary property.

If a contract is reached with the city, AT&T would replace a police tower that’s currently behind the Police Department with one of their own towers. The police tower is used to provide support for police radios and the 911 system.

“AT&T is obviously looking for a place where they have to do the least amount of infrastructure improvements, and since there is already a tower there, all they have to do is take the old tower out, put their tower in and hook everything up.”

Calls to Wallace Haley, the attorney representing AT&T in the matter, were not returned at press time.

The proposed tower would bring the city about $20,000 a year in revenue from the lease and save it about the same amount by enabling the city to get rid of the T1 lines it’s currently using to connect with city buildings, such as the Recreation Center, that are not a part of the City Hall structure.

“The main advantage to the city is, they would give us space on this tower for other things we want to do,” Cady said. “One of those things would be wireless communication to some of our outbuildings. Right now, we are using expensive T1 lines; they’re like $500 a month each. So if we could put wireless to those buildings and do all our email, phone and data communications wirelessly, it would save us anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 a month.”

The proposed tower and the advantages it could bring Roseville are nothing new for Cady, who made a similar deal with a cell phone carrier at his previous position in Trenton, saving that city thousands annually.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sara Kandel at skandel@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1030.