Cell Phone Tower Question

[MMeier]

Hopefully the tree towers up your way look better then the ones they put up around here, just don't look right to me, have to get a pic up !

 

[jgillott]

I know someone with a tower in Santa Rosa, Ca. They get $5k a month for a having a tower in there vineyard, that's a nice little check every month!

My former boss who lives here in western PA gets $3500/mth for the one on his property. My brother-in-law has had interest in getting one on our place here. Not sure who he talked to however.

 

[JJPage]

Before I retired I used to maintain the gensets and building envelope for Qwest/CenturyLink. Their's were all about 20' x 20' buildings surrounded by a cyclone fence, the only issues we had were the night time visitors leaving their used party supplies behind. Here is a pic of a typical cell tower site, I was doing winter time maintenance at Creston Butte in Eastern Washington. Jess

 

[BIGNASTY]

Had a talk to them today they are willing to pay lots more than I ever would have thought

Was told that they wont need to come onto the property there will be an easement off the Hwy to the equipment. Oo.
Mainly for ease of access during the winter. The site will be 25x25 all on our property the guy that came with the nice chick was up front and seemed pretty decent. He apologized for the rude behavior of the other guy (must have been a member of TDR and ruffled some feathers in the Political forum :-laf) No big deal to me. They came to the house for the meeting went out and they staked out where they would need to be and what trees would need to go.

Had this really cool computer program, they took several pictures of the spot from different angles then superimposed the tower. The chick said that's very close to what it would look like, ( I tried to get them to send me a pic to my Email but they would not) From the road you wont see the building its in the trees the tower is taller than the real trees by quite a bit, but still not as tall as the Pine tree that about 10 times a year motorists plow into head on not paying attention to the road looking around.

I thought this guy was pretty up front, reason being was, he told us that we could get the cell service for free, but within 5 years average the site is sold then we would have to get Cell service. Cell service isn't that big a deal, I just asked the rude guy that to maybe get him to shut up and let this good looking girl talk. He said and showed us proof that at the time of end of lease the multi tenants will buy the lease and increase the landowner payment, almost always at that time his paperwork showed that there are other companies that want to get on the tower seeing that our site is small if this where to happen they would have to have more land to install their supporting equipment. We would have the option to lease more land to them or not, and of course that would increase the lease payment The lease is transferable if we were to sell the home, and will be for 10 years at that time we or they could end the lease and they would restore the land to original condition, gave our Attorneys the paperwork to have them check it out to verify that its no BS.

They staked out 50x50 for two sites that he said would be WAY MORE than what would EVER be needed to increase the tenants and it still wouldn't be bad. Its not like we can even see this from our home anyway.

I asked about interference with other things in the house? never had a problem with that and will put that in the lease agreement, along with all the other things that your Attorneys have talked about and a few more that we threw in that they didn't think of. They stayed for lunch and are going to be around for the rest of the week if we have questions and gave us a card for questions after that. They would like to get started soon, good weather don't last for ever up here.

The construction guy asked where our electrical comes into the house from? surely you didn't bury it from the road to your house? Nope we are off grid we make our own power, at lunch he had to see that and is coming back tomorrow to see Both the in-laws systems. Asked him about the gen-set on his system he said that its pretty quiet lots of places make them go the extra to keep it quiet especially at places like this if it were in a city they really dont care, he doubts that we could hear it from the house.

 

[JLEONARD]

I would want to know what they plan on doing with it in 10 years when they no longer need it?

 

[JJPage]

I would want to know what they plan on doing with it in 10 years when they no longer need it?

Usually it is deeded over to the land owner, if they agree, to do with it as they please. PNB, US West, Qwest used to have what they called Toll huts, very similar in size to a cell tower, they had repeaters, load coils and various equipment to provide long distance service to customers. With the influx of fiber these toll huts all became "old" technology, now, mostly farmers/land owners use them for storage. They are a very stout built, secure structure.

 

[BIGNASTY]

At 10 years if no one picks up the tower, the company that installed it still owns it, they would have the option to keep paying us and using the tower or pull the plug and remove it. IT CANT SIT VACANT OR NOT USED. They provided proof that the tenants usually pick up the tower at 5 years, that 5 year mark is also is the first lease renewal for us. If nobody wants to buy the tower we still get the next 5 years no questions asked. I had breakfast with the construction foreman, he came to the house to see our off grid power system, and I got alot of info from him. He assured me that it won't be 5 years before companies are wanting to buy the tower, the rent paid by them is far greater than the payment to purchase it. His company is in the instillation business and don't really want to deal with the tenants but for at least the first 5 years its part of doing business for them. When the tower is sold the ones that buy it will have to come and renegotiate the lease on the land, he said that's when you really have them over the barrel they just spent $$$$$$ for the tower, so if they don't have a land lease they bought a tower to remove it and put it someplace else, AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. The company that owns it would just raise the rent to the other tenants to make up the difference.

There's way more to this than I can understand, im a nose picker and surround myself with some very smart people. Wife, FIL and BIL all went to talk to our Bean Counter about taxes, profits, and all the other crap that I have spent most of my adult life figuring how to stay away from. I know that this maybe hard for some to believe but I trust the people closest to me. The two Attorneys are pretty good friends as is the Bean Counter, I have been hunting with them for years and they know that I cant do what they do. In turn they cant do what I can do, we use a kind of barter system, The Bean Counter is going on a Goat hunt this year and im taking him in and out, without me he gets lost at the trail head, Without him im paying up the whaaaazooo for someone like him. Same with the Attorneys they got me out of a jam in Calif and now are advising us on this deal, I have put them on many fine Elk that I would have taken but I owed them so it was payback time. I trust the wife the most. She could have cleaned out our bank account and been gone YEARS AGO, but she is still there when I wake up everyday, so I think that she might just hang in there with me.

The Construction Foreman said really it is a no loose deal for you as it is, you have no attachment to the tower other than IT SITS ON YOUR LAND that your not using and you get paid pretty well for the next 10 years no matter what!! Or in 5 years or less you renegotiate for MORE MONEY !! to a new owner and keep going.

 

[SnoKing]

I would be all over it in a Microsoft minute! SNOKING

 

[TJJEEPER]

The buildings are prefab. They show up either whole or in sections. The construction is the piers to set the building and footings for the tower. Gravel inside the fence, with compaction so they don't sink in the wet season. The rest of the "construction" is just assembly.

 

[JLEONARD]

Sounds like a good deal.

 

[BIGNASTY]

The buildings are prefab. They show up either whole or in sections. The construction is the piers to set the building and footings for the tower. Gravel inside the fence, with compaction so they don't sink in the wet season. The rest of the "construction" is just assembly.

I would have to think that the footing for the tower is a pretty LARGE chunk of concrete!!

It gets VERY sloppy after 6 or 7 months of snow and then the rain, I have dumped MAJOR amounts of ROCK!! on our drive for like 2 years, then since we moved here I have put gravel on it and its just now getting to the point that when the snow melts and the rains come it don't get pushed into the ground to form a base

The other sites have an all concrete pad and driveway, surrounded with chain-link and Constantine wire, The towers all look like pine trees just one LARGE ROUND pole with something like 15 really big nuts on studs cast into the footing. The other buildings have been there for awhile so I don't know if this one will be the same, they are like a mini tilt-up precast with exposed aggregate. I cant believe that the Gen-set is just outside!!! its got its own metal cover but it is exposed to the elements, if they need to fire it up in the winter (most probable time of need) they better bring a snow shovel to dig it out!!

 

[TJJEEPER]

Yup, the tower base will be a huge plug of concrete. I have a 72' free standing tower in my backyard (Amateur Radio) that has 8 1/2 yards of concrete holding it up. Depending on the wind load theirs will be similar. The rest of the compound will be decided by local conditions. My observations are from California

 

[CEppinger]

There is one (Tower & genset) in the far corner of the lot behind the house. A little bit of noise (have to be outside at night to hear it) with something banging near the top when it is windy. To me the biggest plus is it has to make a good lightning rod, better it than my house or trees.

 

[BIGNASTY]

There is one (Tower & genset) in the far corner of the lot behind the house. A little bit of noise (have to be outside at night to hear it) with something banging near the top when it is windy. To me the biggest plus is it has to make a good lightning rod, better it than my house or trees.

We found out that our lightning rod works, I was on line sending G Harman a message and the thunder cracked REALLY LOUD, I looked outside and then back to the screen on the computer and my Email had been sent????? The protector on the rod system was blown and the rod itself dont look the best afterwards

The Cell tower Company has bent over backwards to make us feel good about this and answer any questions. They invited us out to an already existing cell tower and fired up the Aux gen. I was more than satisfied with the sound. We are over 400 yards away from the purposed site on our property, with the sound the other made im sure that it wont be a problem. They start digging the footing hole Monday, didn't take to long after the singing of the dotted line. Fell the trees on my side of the fence, I had asked if I could get them? went out with the mules pulled them out of the way, they dropped 4 altogether FIREWOOD!!!

I can guarantee that if anything is loose on this tower, it WONT LAST LONG!! I thought that where we lived in So Calif the Santa Ana winds were bad (and they are) but when Canada leaves the door open and the Chinook winds come down the valley, you had better have things tied down or pick them up in ID

 

[BIGNASTY]

Cell tower in and working, has no affect what so ever on ANYTHING in our house, ANYTHING in our house, ANYTHING in our house, ANYTHING in our house, ANYTHING in our house, ANYTHING in our house.:-laf

It does have an affect on the bank account. This is the next best thing to ROBBERY

 

[AEdelheit]

Wow that was fast, glad to hear its working out !

 

[TJJEEPER]

Good to hear!
Hopefully it's the carrier you use. Nothing like a tower on the corner for good coverage ANYWHERE on the property!