Council OKs cellular tower lease

Published 11:17 am Tuesday, September 26, 2006

By By MICHAEL C. GUILMETTE JR. / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The City of Four Flags came one step closer to having another flag above it Monday evening. This flag, however, will have a cellular telephone tower inside its flag pole.
The Niles City Council approved a lease agreement between the city and U.S. Cellular to place a cellular telephone tower on city-owned property on Cherry Street near the city's water tower. The agreement calls for U.S. Cellular to pay a base rent fee of $1,050 per month to the city for a total rent of $12,600 per year.
Flag replacement costs, slated at $600 per year, would come out of the rental fee.
No date has been set for construction of the tower, since U.S. Cellular still needs to apply for a building permit through the Niles City Planning Commission. In August, the commission drafted a new ordinance to allow for construction of telecommunication towers on city-owned green spaces, such as the Cherry Street site. The city approved the new ordinance on Sept. 11.
Once approved, the tower could be built in as little as 30 days, and a three-week testing period would follow before the tower is operational.
The city also approved a resolution authorizing Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr &Huber of Grand Rapids and Utility Financial Solutions of Holland to conduct an engineering and cost of service analysis for capital improvements to the Niles wastewater treatment plant. The resolution also approved the application for an S2 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to pay for the study.
The city is requesting $433, 260 from the $40 million state grant program to conduct the study, and city funds totaling $48,140 would be used as a local match.
Jack Rafter, the senior project manager with FTCH, said the application deadline for the grant is Oct. 1, but he cautioned that the city may not receive final approval until January 2007.
Jim Lehmkuhl, the Niles Utilities Department manager, said if the grant is approved, the city would then be obligated to proceed with the $11.2 million in engineering work on the wastewater plant and other improvements.
Rafter told the council the three areas in need of improvements – the influent headworks screens and raw sewage pumps and pipes, the biosolids handling facilities and the disinfection facilities.
Much of the current equipment and piping slated for repair have been in use for more than 25 years, and maintenance concerns and erosion from grit from storm run-off is increasing the likelihood of a major breakdown and wastewater overflows.
Rafter said the state is tightening regulations on overflows, mandating there be no more into the St. Joseph River by 2014.
Also during the meeting, the city approved three home improvement loans totaling $12,768, but they tabled another loan for $24, 802 after council members requested more information about the bids for the project.
The council also approved the purchase of a Ford Crown Victoria for the Niles Police Department costing $20,269.65, and they accepted a $43,387 bid from Rieth-Riley Construction Company of South Bend, Ind., for Streetscape expansion projects.