by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
After more than two years of research, City Council member Sharon Copeland said this week she continues to inch towards introducing legislation that would put the City in the business of leasing park land to cellular phone tower companies.
Proceeds from any deals made, she said, could be put towards more and better programs at those public parks.
“We’ve looked at this issue from so many angles and with the proper policies and pricing guidelines in place, we believe it could be very beneficial to our parks department,” Copeland said. “Leasing space there can be an excellent source of revenue for our underfunded parks.”
Copeland met with JEA, which has been leasing its land to cell tower companies for years, for “technical advice” last week. It was at that meeting, she said, that the City and its auditors got the information they needed to feel comfortable about developing new cell tower practices.
“JEA is the closest thing we have to having a local technical expert on this,” Copeland said. “They’re familiar with things like how to structure rental term agreements and how to develop a pricing plan.
“That’s what we’re working on now. Obviously we want to be assured we’re charging the right amount, neither too high nor too low.”
Copeland said that just recently a cell tower company offered to pay $12,000 annually to lease space at a Mandarin park in her district. Similar deals in cities farther south including Palm Beach are worth three times that much.
“We look at offers like that all the time and we can’t even think about going forward with them,” she said. “It’s not worth the effort of having to sell the concept to the parks or the neighborhood. That’s why we need to have some criteria on the books that will help us evaluate whether or not we’re getting a good deal.”
Over the next few months, Copeland said she and the various City agencies involved in the leasing process including the Parks and Recreation and the Real Estate Departments will meet at least one more time before legislation to adopt a new cell tower leasing policy is introduced.
“By October I think we’ll have something,” she said. “We’ll hold a few public meetings and flesh out the details, but I’m confident we’ll have something that everyone will be comfortable with.”