Telecommunications Advisory Commission Meeting December 7, 2015 Village Hall Board Conference Room 6900 North Lincoln Avenue Lincolnwood, Illinois 60712 6:00 P.M. I. Call to Order II. III. Roll Call Approval of Minutes a. October 13, 2015 IV. Zoning Code Review: Telecommunications a. Small Cell Antennas V. American Tower Proposal VI. VII. VIII. RCN Update Public Forum Adjournment Posted: December 3, 2015 By:
DRAFT Telecommunications Advisory Commission Minutes October 13, 2015 Village Hall Board Conference Room 6900 North Lincoln Avenue Lincolnwood, Illinois 60712 Commissioners Present Brad Fox, Chair Jeffrey Light Stanley Wilk Commissioners Absent Andrew Gavrilos Joan Freidman Others Present Lawrence Elster, Trustee Liaison Douglas Petroshius, Staff Liaison I. Call to Order a. The meeting of the Telecommunications Advisory Commission (TAC) was called to order at 7:01 P.M. by Commissioner Fox. II. Roll Call a. Commissioner Fox called the Roll. A quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes a. Commissioner Light made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 6, 2014 meeting. Commissioner Wilke seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0 by voice vote. IV. Review of Telecommunications Commission Responsibilities a. Concerns were raised that staff was not fully utilizing the Telecommunications Commission. The Commission requested that it be informed of all cable and cellular related matters as soon as staff is made aware of them. Further, the Commission requested that it be notified as soon as a Telecommunications Commission application is made for zoning approval. Mr. Petroshius informed the Commission that staff would endeavor to inform them as soon as staff is made aware of all matters pertaining to telecommunications. V. Status Update on Zoning Code Review for Telecommunications Page 1 of 2
DRAFT a. Mr. Petroshius reported that the Village Attorney continues to create a draft of the new telecommunications related zoning regulations. Staff expects the final document will be ready for the Commission s review by the end of the calendar year. VI. Small Cell Antennas a. Commissioner Light expressed concerns regarding when TAC s review of this material is due as there is a significant amount of information that needs review. Mr. Petroshius indicated there is no deadline for this project and TAC can take as much time as it needs. At the next meeting the Commission will review the matter in detail. Additional experts may be required such as the Village Attorney and a small cell carrier. VII. Public Forum a. None. VIII. Adjournment a. Commissioner Wilke made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Light seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned by voice vote 3-0 at 8:14 P.M. Minutes Recorded by: Douglas Petroshius Assistant Village Manager Staff Liaison Page 2 of 2
MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: Telecommunications Advisory Commission Douglas J. Petroshius, Assistant Village Manager DATE: December 3, 2015 SUBJECT: Telecommunications Advisory Commission (TAC) Meeting In preparation for the Monday, December 7, 2015 TAC meeting staff prepared this memorandum. The meeting agenda and draft minutes of the last meeting are enclosed with this packet for your review as well as additional information as described below. Barb Adams of Holland and Knight will be present at the meeting as the subject matter expert on these matters. Below is a summary of the agenda items. Zoning Code Review: Telecommunications & Small Cell Antennas At the previous TAC meeting the Commission continued its discussion regarding sections of the Zoning Code that govern Telecommunications sites and initiated a discussion about a relatively new technology known as Small Cells. As the name implies, Small Cells are mini-cell towers that can connect cellular devices to a specific carrier (i.e. a Verizon cellphone connecting to a Verizon Small Cell). Small Cells are generally used to fill gaps in cellular coverage. The Village also received a proposal by Wireless Bridge partners, a firm that works on behalf of municipalities to attract small cell antennas. This matter was discussed at TAC s previous meeting and the proposal was forwarded to TAC on October 13, 2015. Due to the number of issues on the current TAC agenda staff recommends postponing consideration of the Wireless Bridge Partners proposal until after a discussion of the zoning implications. American Tower Proposal At the previous TAC meeting the topic of lease agreements were discussed. The Village currently has two lease agreements: one for cellular services on top of the Village s Standpipe at 7015 North Central Park Avenue (next to Lowe s) and another for cellular services on a lattice tower adjacent to the Standpipe. Recently the Village was contacted by Laurie Laney of American Tower who operates the lease for the lattice tower. Ms. Laney provided the attached proposal to extend the existing agreement Page 1 of 2
at an increased rate. This is attached and was also sent to TAC on October 17, 2015. Staff is seeking input from the Commission regarding this proposal. RCN Update All RCN permits to work in the public right of way have been issued by the Village Engineer. At this time approximately 10% of the Village has been turned-up and a few customers have been activated. RCN crews are moving as quickly as possible and are being monitored by Public Works staff and the Village Engineer. A site survey has been performed for the Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) programming connection at Village Hall. Staff will be able to answer any questions TAC may have regarding this matter. Ms. Adams will also be available to answer any questions TAC has on the different aspects of the State-wide Franchise Agreement which authorizes RCN to operate in the Village. Questions or Comments Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have on any of the above topics at (847) 745-4711 or dpetroshius@lwd.org. Page 2 of 2
An Authorized Vendor of American Tower Corporation Laurie Laney 2201 NW Corporate Blvd. Ste 105. Boca Raton, FL 33431 10/16/15 Doug Petroshius Village of Lincolnwood 6900 N. Lincoln Ave. Lincolnwood, IL 60712 RE: Lincolnwood Site # 303900 Dear Mr. Petroshius, Thank you for reaching out again. Since we last spoke, the industry has become even more competitive with a lot of 3 rd party companies offering perpetual easements, fee simple sale or Lease Buyouts. American Tower would like to maintain their relationship with you and have similar programs that can be paid out in a lump sum or a deferred payment schedule where they pay a significant amount of interest should this become of interest to you. Their main focus is to further protect and secure their sites, so as we ve previously discussed, another way to do this is to increase the Lease term. Here are the key reasons why American Tower is looking for a Lease Extension now: 3 rd party companies doing long term Lease Buyouts or Perpetual Easements on competitive structures leaves us at a competitive disadvantage because those sites have significantly more term. The growing number of carrier consolidations in this industry is reducing the number of potential core customers and leaving an increased number of empty towers in their wake. Was your T-Mobile site impacted with their acquisition of Metro PCS? Wireless carriers look for long term leases when selecting a site as a way to mitigate their risk of having to relocate their equipment in the future (saving time and cost). If all other things are equal with another tower, the site with the longer term ground Lease would be a determining factor in their decision. Here is what we are proposing: 30 year Lease Extension Amendment from 2026-2056 (5 year renewal terms). This would amend the lease adding 6 more extension terms on the back-end of the current lease and in exchange for granting the additional term, American Tower will offer to increase your rent by $150/mo and change your escalation to 15%/term. This escalation change along with the increased rent will have a
significant impact over time. All the other lease terms and conditions would remain the same going forward as they are currently drafted. This extension is sought so that ATC can assure their tenants continuing operation of their installations (concurrent with ATC s land lease) should they wish to do so. A Lease Extension will not prevent you from accepting a perpetual easement offer in the future and multiple tenants can improve what is offered. Thank you for your time and consideration, I will follow up with you next week or if you have any questions before then, please contact me at the number below or at llaney@toweralliancellc.com. Sincerely, Laurie Laney Lease Consultant Tower Alliance LLC 916.282-9810