Council directs staff to negotiate with Tower North for monopole at compost center to boost wireless coverage

The Lake Forest City Council on Nov. 3 authorized staff to negotiate a ground-lease with Tower North to install a monopole cell tower at the city’s compost center, with the stated goal of improving wireless coverage — particularly in the southwest quadrant and Fourth Ward — and removing heavy antenna arrays from the city’s water tower.

Background and site: Staff described the code‑amendment process and a consultant wireless-coverage study that identified deficiencies in the southwest quadrant, especially near Everett and Waukegan roads. The council previously designated the compost center as a permitted site for a standalone telecommunication tower and staff surveyed the site to identify buildable areas outside mapped floodway/floodplain constraints. Staff identified an area near the former compost windrows and a maintenance shed as the practical build site.

Proposals received: Two RFP responses were submitted: Tower North and Harmony Towers. Tower North’s initial proposal included an upfront payment of $125,000 (split into $25,000 on lease execution and $100,000 on construction start), a projected range of provider rental revenue of about $2,800 to $4,000 per carrier, and nonbinding letters of intent from Verizon, AT&T and T‑Mobile. Tower North estimated city revenue sharing from providers at roughly $32,000–$40,000 annually under their proposal. Harmony Towers proposed a flat $400 per month ground-lease with no escalation and provided no carrier LOIs.

Tradeoffs and staff recommendation: Staff noted the city currently receives about $200,000 annually from carrier leases on the water tower; moving providers to a private tower would likely reduce that revenue and staff estimated a potential net reduction of roughly $150,000 annually under initial proposals. Staff recommended proceeding with expedited negotiations with Tower North while seeking more favorable terms, shorter lease duration, and contract language that conditions payments on successful carrier attachments and transitions off the water tower.

Council action: The council authorized staff to negotiate with Tower North, with the motion passing 7 yays and 1 abstention. Councilors emphasized the need to make any final lease contingent on securing carrier attachments and to pursue terms that protect city revenue and public-safety interests.