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Council OKs master ground lease with Branch Communications for towers on city property, 6-1
Summary
Leander approved a five-year master agreement letting Branch Communications market, build and operate telecom monopoles on city-owned land; council debated rates and asked staff for site analyses.
The Leander City Council on June 5 approved a five-year telecommunications master ground lease with Branch Communications LLC, allowing the company to market, develop and manage telecommunications facilities on selected city-owned properties.
Assistant to the city manager Sue Yasak told the council the contract is a master framework: individual ground-lease exhibits for each site will come back to council for approval and the city will determine site-by-site whether a monthly rent schedule or a lump-sum payment is more favourable. "That's an analysis the city would work with Branch on and bring forward to council whether it would be more financially beneficial to have a monthly rate or a lump sum payment," Yasak said.
Resident Anita Chmnedovich urged the council to seek higher rates, citing examples from peer cities. "Leander's proposal offers $1,250 per month base rent with a 1.5% annual increase and $300 per carrier. Round Rock and Georgetown command higher payments," she said, and recommended raising base rent and colocation fees.
Yasak said Branch had reviewed a list of Leander-owned properties and would focus on sites that address coverage gaps; staff will return site analyses for council review. She also noted other cities vary widely in approach'some lease space on existing municipal towers; the Branch model would have the private firm build and maintain towers on city property and pay the city rent.
Council approved the master agreement 6-1. Several council members noted cell service outages in parts of the city and said they supported a plan that would expand service, even as they asked staff to continue evaluating market rates and site selections.
Why it matters: The agreement creates a mechanism for siting new cellular infrastructure on public land, which the city hopes will improve coverage and broadband options. The city retains site approval authority for each tower and will negotiate the financial terms for each lease exhibit.
What's next: Staff will provide council the inventory of city properties Branch was given, return site-specific ground lease exhibits for council approval and provide analysis on market rates and whether lump-sum or monthly payments yield better public value.
