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After debate, Weston trustees set $100,000/year negotiation target and require provider-paid legal review for proposed cell equipment lease on water tower
Summary
Trustees extensively debated T-Mobile's revised proposal to add cell equipment on the village water tower. An initial motion to deny failed; the board later set negotiation parameters asking staff to seek approximately $100,000 yearly rent and require the company to cover attorney-review costs before returning a final lease for approval.
The Village Board spent considerable time discussing a revised proposal from a wireless provider (T-Mobile) to expand equipment on the village water tower. Concerns raised included equipment placement around the tower perimeter, painting and maintenance costs when the tank requires periodic repainting, safety and freezing concerns at high elevation, precedent for multiple providers sharing space, and uncertainty about long-term revenue relative to potential maintenance liabilities.
Trustee Zagami initially moved to deny the revised proposal, citing equipment hung around the tank perimeter and painting/maintenance concerns; that motion failed. Trustees instead directed staff to return to negotiations with specific parameters: a rent target proposed at $100,000 per year and a requirement that the provider pay attorney-review costs for lease documentation and any relocation/removal costs. Trustee Jordan moved the parameters with a second; the motion passed and staff were authorized to negotiate consistent with those parameters. Trustees emphasized that any final lease would return to the board for approval and that staff should insist on protections (e.g., provider responsibility for moving equipment during painting and clear limits on adding third-party customers without additional compensation to the village).
Next steps: staff will seek offers consistent with the boardparameters, require the provider to pay a defined share of legal and relocation costs, and present any draft lease to the board for final approval.
