Bonner County commissioners deny Verizon lease to place cellular equipment on courthouse

During an 11:01 a.m. meeting, the Bonner County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to deny a proposed lease from Verizon Wireless to install cellular equipment on the Bonner County Courthouse building.

County legal counsel Bill Wilson told the commissioners he had reviewed Verizon’s standard lease and flagged several provisions he said the county could not accept, including an initial five-year term with four automatic renewals (a 25-year duration as written), a requirement for 24-hour access to equipment on a secure courthouse facility, an open-ended indemnification clause and a right of first refusal if the county ever sold the property. "Open ended indemnification clauses violate that…