The Culver Community School Board members received information Monday night about the construction and lease of a cell tower on school property.
The initial request from LCC Telecom, working with Tillman Infrastructure, was to place a 250-foot self-supporting communications tower at the corner of Academy and Slate Streets by the baseball diamonds. The idea is to improve services for certain communication companies.
Superintendent Karen Shuman stated that the spot by the baseball diamonds was not a preferred location by the corporation members. She said a community member expressed concern about the height of the tower and its aesthetics. Shuman said she thought it would be best to move it further west next to the tree line or by the transportation building. Company representative James French said he would take the suggestion back to Tillman Infrastructure to see if that would be an acceptable location with a possible site visit.
The lease would be a 10-year initial lease term with a five-year automatic renewal for 75 years with a 15 percent escalator every five years. The school would receive lease payments of $1,300 a month for the first portion of the agreement. An up-front three-year payment would be made for $46,800.
The school board members approved the lease on the condition that the tower not be placed at the baseball diamond. The entire project would need to go through the permitting and zoning processes before construction can begin, assuming it meets all standards in the municipal laws governing those specifications in Culver.
