A proposal about the wireless lease at the West Jackson Street water tower was presented at the January meeting of the Dillon City Council and voted on at the February meeting.
According to the January 8, 2018 minutes, “City Manager Glen Wagner began his report by stating that he had received a proposal from Lease Advisors, one of the largest private holders of wireless leases, to buy our AT&T lease for the water tower on West Jackson Street. The lease we have with AT&T expires in 2039 and we collect $12,321 annually from the lease. Lease Advisors offered us three (3) options to consider: Option #1 provides a lump sum payment of $145,000 to the City and gives rights Lease Advisors rights to the water tower for 30 years; Option #2 provides a lump sum payment of $165,000 to the City and gives rights for 99 years; Option #3 provides a total payment of $234,000 to the City over 11 years, with the first payment of $25,000 and payments of $20,900 each year thereafter and rights for 50 years. Lease Advisors will also market the tower for additional revenue with a 50/50 revenue sharing. Glen asked Council if they were interested in going further. The Mayor, Councilman Braddy and Councilman Wallace said they think we should. They asked Glen to check our agreement with AT&T to see when our lease would be ending.” The matter was reviewed again at the February 12th meeting. Upon a motion by Councilman John Braddy and a second by Councilman Johnny Eller, the council approved moving forward with pursuing Option #3.