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Public comment urges county to review AT&T buyout offer for EPIC tower; commissioners ask for written proposal and lease details
Summary
A county staff member outlined an AT&T proposal to buy out long-term rent on a sheriff's tower for $257,600 to fund additional EPIC towers; commissioners asked staff to provide the written offer and the existing lease for review before deciding.
During public comment at the Jan. 6 meeting, a county EPIC program representative described an AT&T proposal to make a one-time payment of $257,600 in exchange for a 30-year lease and a 99-year easement on a sheriff’s department tower and asked commissioners for a letter of intent.
The speaker said the county currently receives $1,800 a month from AT&T for the tower and that the one-time payoff would be deposited into the county’s EPIC fund. He said the county has two remaining tower sites under consideration—a 195-foot and a 235-foot tower—and that the payoff would be used to erect those additional towers to improve countywide wireless coverage for emergency responders.
Commissioners asked for additional documentation before committing. One commissioner noted the long-term present value of monthly rent (roughly $1,800 monthly under current terms), and said a cash buyout of about $257,600 represented a steep discount compared with future receipts. Another commissioner asked how tall towers would need to be to address emergency communications and was told that 400-foot towers were likely needed to fully resolve coverage gaps.
Commissioners did not take a vote. They asked county staff and the county attorney, Sean, to provide the written AT&T offer and the county’s existing lease, and requested financial comparisons and amendment mechanisms so the board could review exact numbers before making a decision at the next meeting.
John, the county EPIC representative, told the board he would contact the vendor and asked the county to use the next meeting to provide a formal commitment if figures supported taking the payoff and using the funds to build taller towers. Commissioners emphasized they favored the general objective—getting towers erected—while seeking better data on long-term revenue loss versus immediate capital to build taller towers.
