Opinions appreciated…cell tower

A friend back in va had one installed at his place years ago, I'd never heard of such a thing at the time. When he said they were paying him $1100 a month I was totally floored - I would jump on that too!

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I'm not easy to live with, I know that it's true. You're no picnic either baby...

Don Henley

I'd go for it. Along with all the other recommendations on here be sure that there is a fund for removing the tower and pad when the contract expires.

When I lived down in the city I chaired a hearing about the cell company putting a tower in a city park and paying for it by putting up lights on the ball field and paying a monthly rental to the Parks Dept. One of the neighbors in opposition stated that, "if god had wanted children to play outside after dark, He would have made it stay light longer".

A neighbor of my parents did it in a NY minute on a 30 acre parcel of his pasture in the 1980s and enjoyed the lease income of the 4500 square feet until his death a few years ago in a car accident caused ironically by a woman talking on her cell phone.

His widow has said that when the lease renewal comes up she intends to renew with them because her husband didn't die from the tower falling on him.

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

Do it! But yes, make sure you dot all the i's and cross all the t's. See if they'll foot all/part of the bill to fence off for animals.

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I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
The Cloud
Percy Bysshe Shelley

I would insist they put a 4 ft x 4ft platform about 15-20 ft up with a roof over it for deer huntin.

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United states of America

Born July 4, 1776

Died November 4, 2008

Suicide

It never hurts to have a lawyer look over valuable or long term contracts. If you move does the contract transfer to the new land owner our remain yours? Can you transfer the contract in your will?

My neighbor let them put one on his land for a agreed upon price. A year later company A went bankrupt. Bought out by company B. Neighbor had to take reduced payment because of bankruptcy. A couple years later company B goes bankrupt. This scenario goes on for several bankruptcies and now they recieve less than half of the initial amount.

Neighbors except it or accept it?

we turned down offers to put up towers for the last 36 years. eye sore to our farm. guy buys 20 ac. next door builds house, cell tower was next. so we have the eye sore, but not the $12000 per year income....still better him than me for ugleying up the land.....

Yea, the driving around where they please ain't gonna get it. I've made that clear. It's in prime dear area and I don't want anyone thinking they can just hunt without permission.

Thanks all for your inputs....

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Education and intelligence are not the same things.

One other problem may be if you (or your heirs) want to sell your property. But s you said, it doesn't sound like a beautiful and pristine piece anyways...
There is a cell tower on the opposite hill from us. It's visible but not too close, and from here is not a bother at all. We get excellent cell service. A friend who lives just beneath it says they do not like it, it "hums" all of the time. That would bother me. Other than that, he says they can't see it, but they have no cell service from it because they are under it's "umbrella".

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They shall all sit under their own vines and their own fig trees, and they shall live in peace and unafraid. Mica 4:4

"But they have no cell service from it because they are under it's "umbrella"

NOW, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR ME! If I could not get use out of the tower, I would probably not want it on my property, other than the monthly income from it.

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Life......Is What You Make Of It

Be aware that if you have a mortage on the property, most lenders require that the money from cell towers be applied to the loan.

Really? They make more money if you pay at the minimum contracted rate. There probably is a clause about major changes the property needing approval by the lien holder, and their consent might hinge on a change to the agreement if they see the tower as a liability that will make the property harder to resell.

Mine says i cant make any changes to the property that decreases value. If i do the balance of loan becomes due immediately.

Oh . . . . . you certainly want to lawyer up. The lease they are providing for you is their standard lease and they tell you "This is the standard lease that everyone has." What they don't tell you is it's the standard lease for people who didn't hire a lawyer to help them.

Depending on how bad they want your property, and if there is no other property suitable for what they want - YOU are in charge and can demand things. The price they quoted you is their starting price. They are hoping you just jump at all that money so they don't have to offer you more.

A lawyer will make sure they are paying a fair price - not THEIR price they have told you. A lawyer will also have you put certain clauses in the lease (having a chain link fence around the tower isn't a bad idea). No kids will try climbing it and get hurt.

Just understand it is a 30 year lease - your land where the tower is will be affected by it for at least 30 years if not longer. Make sure when the lease is up, there isn't a clause where they can renew it by paying you at today's price - you want to be able to negotiate a new price 30 years from now, not be locked in to today's prices.

Think about access roads, etc. If you have animals (or plan on getting animals) make sure the lease covers gates, etc. Don't EVER sign it with certain things that are verbal "understandings" - if it isn't in the lease, it ISN'T covered!

But yeah, I've heard they provide a nice income. I'd say go for it, but make sure you hire a lawyer that is the field for cell phone leases. You don't want to go to your standard lawyer for something like this that will affect you for the next 30 years.

Good luck!

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Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

I got a lawyer to read through the contract and we made a few changes. My mortgage company was notified but didn't care and didn't ask for the money. The contract had a 3% annual increase written into it.

Selling the property isn't an issue. I get at least 3 letters a month, from different companies, asking to buy me out of the contract for a lump sum.

The first company was sold to another company. I did have to sign additional paperwork but the contract was the same.

At the end of the contract the tower becomes mine. I can scrap it out or find another company to lease space on it.

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www.littlebitfarm.net

Having spent 14 yrs running throughout the SE installing cell sites, I'll offer the following for your consideration.

20 years ago, the leases paid more but were a much shorter term ( 5 yrs was common). I know of one site where the owner was getting some $5k/month ... and it was 4 yrs before we showed up.

Now the leases are for less money per month but run into the 30 yrs range.

If they have contacted you about this .... the company ( typically a separate Site Acquisition Engineering firm) has alternate sites in the plan. Apparently there is a need and if you do not accept it, they will say OK and move to the next preferred site - it will be built.

I've also seen many a meter ( monitors for dangerous levels) used during installation of co-los ( the addition of other cellular companies to an existing tower) and ya have to be pretty close to the antennas before they warn you .... but I have seen the damage of being too close and ground level ain't it.

There are several ways that this will be built. There are companies that build towers and lease them ( they provide no cellular service) - major players are Crown Castle, American Towers and Pyramid. Any of these are respectful of the land.

There are carriers that build their own towers but also will lease to others.

Then you get into the types of towers. There are Monopoles ( smallest footprint), Self-Supporters ( typically 3 or 4 leg), Guyed Towers ( where anchors can be placed as far out as 300-400 ft from the tower - fencing at each anchor and not for the entire distance), roof tops ( doesn't seem to apply) and concealed ( such as a Red Roof Inn motel sign).

Some sites can be disguised as a Flag Pole ( North Charleston, SC) or a Tree ( Raleigh, NC) ... I've worked on one in NC that is a Cross ( google for images). Water tanks often make good sites as well.

Now on the flip side, I've had a shotgun pulled on me ( Spartanburg, SC) because the land owner thought that he was entitled to more money as we were to add an additional carrier to the site ( Co-Lo) .... deputies and lawyers settled that pretty quickly.

I know of another that had a pistol pulled on him .... a fella pulled into the wrong drive and the neighbor was mad because he wanted more money and the company just moved to his neighbors land and put it less than a 100 yds from his line. Just an example of alternate sites already planned out.

With all of that said, it will be built in that area.

Considerations ....

There is a fairly new movement where the local gov is hiring "specialists" to revalue these sites ( you are looking at basically a $100k+ investment being installed on your land) ... I would seek that they cover the additional taxes if this takes place.

Security is pretty good as far as the site - they will be installing #2 - #4/0 grounding systems where the theft of this copper can ( and does) occur so they try to prevent this.

Some have generators installed initially while some add these later. These will be tested regularly and folks will be coming by to check fuel levels. Some, like Verizon, have these inside of the shelter that they set ( these will be less of a noise).

If you read your contract ( cellular provider), there will be a note about maintenance time .... typically 10-11 PM until early morning) .... crews may come into the site during this time for "upgrades". It may be rare but exists.

Extra fencing/gates/access may be an easy fruit to pick ... but asking for an extra $40-60k for a Flag Pole or Pine Tree might very well leave you looking at the tower on your neighbor's property.

I'd go with it.

Have them put a gated cattle gaurd in for access from the road can be locked and if left open livestock won't cross it.

It just MIGHT increase the value of your property, since the lease and lease payments will typically convey when you sell the property.

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