Ann Arbor OKs Cellular Antenna Licensing

Licensing agreements with Sprint for continued installation of cellular antennas at four city-owned facilities have been given approval by the Ann Arbor city council.

Council action came at its Jan. 6, 2014 meeting, when councilmembers approved Sprint licensing agreements for cellular antennas at the Plymouth Road water tower, the Manchester Road water tower, the Ann-Ashley parking structure, and the water treatment plant on Sunset Road. The contracts were revised upwards to $45,000 a year at each location, with 4% annual escalators. The previous agreements ranged from $25,920 to $39,283, according to the staff memo accompanying the resolution.

The staff memo also indicated that Sprint has been given initial administrative approval to undertake replacement of some of its equipment related to its 4G deployment.

Total revenue to the city for cell antennas budgeted for FY 2014 is $520,000, all of which goes towards debt service on the Justice Center.

In other related action at the Jan. 6 meeting, the council voted to give the city administrator the power to approve licensing agreements with cellular service providers – even though those agreemens exceed the $25,000 threshold for council approval set forth in a city-charter required ordinance. That will make it unnecessary in the future for items like the Sprint licensing agreements to come before the council for approval.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link]