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Land for Maine's Future board authorizes consent agreement for Wauwatogas Mountain cell‑tower easement with 5‑year inactivity sunset
Summary
The Land for Maine's Future board authorized a consent agreement allowing the conversion of an existing cell‑tower lease into a permanent easement across LMF‑funded land on Wauwatogas Mountain, conditioned on a sunset clause that allows termination if the tower is inactive for five years.
The Land for Maine's Future board voted in a short nonemergency session to authorize a consent agreement converting an existing cell‑tower lease into a permanent easement across Land for Maine's Future (LMF)‑funded property on Wauwatogas Mountain.
The decision, presented by Speaker 2, limited the board's interest to an access easement crossing the LMF‑funded portion of the property and emphasized that the board "do[es] not have any interest in the cell tower site," which is a one‑acre parcel on the summit owned by Blue Hill Heritage Trust. Speaker 2 said Blue Hill Heritage Trust has been negotiating with the cell‑tower company (referred to in the meeting as "American Towers") to convert the existing long‑term lease into a permanent easement allowing the tower to remain.
The board's prior conditional approval, discussed at the meeting, included a requirement for a sunset provision and the board's opportunity to review the final agreement before it took effect. Speaker 2 described the sunset clause (identified in the draft agreement as section 4(b)): "Blue Hill Heritage Trust [has] the ability to file a notice of termination if the tower hasn't been operated in the past 5 years." That provision, the presenter said, would allow the easement to terminate if the tower remained unused for five consecutive years.
During discussion, Speaker 3 asked for clarification that the right of way is "only for the purposes of running a cell tower," stressing the board's intent that the summit not be placed in a blanket right of way for unrelated uses. Speaker 1 noted the recorded language describes the right of way as nonexclusive and that the access road may be used by others in practice.
Speaker 3 moved that the board "authorize the board chair of the Land for Maine's Future board to sign the consent agreement" and the motion was seconded. A voice vote was taken; participants indicated assent and the motion was recorded as approved in the meeting transcript. The transcript records no roll‑call or individual vote tallies.
The meeting closed shortly afterward with a formal adjournment and seasonal remarks.
What happens next: the motion authorizes the board chair to sign the consent agreement; the transcript does not state a signing date or provide a final executed agreement, nor does it record a separate implementation plan or reporting schedule.
