Mahoning could get $500K from tower

Mahoning’s board of supervisors debated a lease agreement that could net the township over half a million dollars at Wednesday’s meeting, though the clarity of the contract raised an important question of land ownership.

The board members reviewed a “perpetual easement proposal” from American Tower for the land occupied by a cellular tower adjacent to the township building, but refrained from making a final decision before gathering more information about the deal.

The proposal contained two offers for the land, though the board members were apprehensive to jump at either option due to vague terminology in the agreement, which raised concerns as to whether the action would dictate a lease or a sale.

“Option one is that they’re going to pay out $4,315 a month for 120 months, or 10 years, and after that you’ve got $517,000, and it’s their easement; we get no more money. Option two, they’ll give you $411,000 right now, and we get no more money, and it’s their easement forever,” Chairman Franklin Ruch said. “That’s how I read it.”

Solicitor Tom Nanovic agreed with Ruch, evaluating a line in the proposal that dictates Tower Alliance would hold an “exclusive perpetual easement on the existing land area” and that “by doing so, American Tower retains the right to operate the tower as they are doing today, until such time as it provides notice of termination.”

Whether that line acknowledges permanent ownership of the land is up to interpretation at the moment, which is problematic in the eyes of the board members.

According to Vice Chairman John Wieczorek, the township currently collects $28,000 annually from Tower Alliance. Supervisor Bruce Steigerwalt said that if Tower Alliance sought to extend the current agreement, with a set rate increase of 12 percent, the payments would increase to about $31,000 over a five-year period.

“That will take us to 2027. Those payments will add up to $299,333 dollars, over the next 10 years, starting from September of last year,” Steigerwalt said.

By acting on either option in the agreement, the township could end up with between $100,000 to more than $200,000 over the current lease rate.

Though the one-time payment seems most appealing in the short term — and it would potentially protect against Tower Alliance pulling out of the deal in the near future — the question of what a “perpetual lease agreement” remains.

Nanovic remained skeptical about the terms of the agreement, being that a sale of the land would require additional action from the township.

To conclude the matter, the board passed a motion for Nanovic to contact land lease consultant Caroline van Fleet at Tower Alliance to obtain a proper definition of a “perpetual easement,” along with a set of terms for the agreement.