Should the town own the cell tower proposed on the Hildreth House property or just lease the land to another owner? That was the question Dave Maxson, co-founder of Isotrope LLC, a wireless communication consulting firm hired to advise the town, put to the Select Board at its Aug. 30 meeting. The board must now consider the revenues and risks associated with both ownership models that Maxson presented and make a choice so it can move forward with a request for proposals. It plans to make that choice at its Sept. 20 meeting.
A 2021 Isotrope study showed that cell phone signals in Harvard are marginal to poor. That same study showed a tower on the town-owned Hildreth House property would improve coverage in a 1.1-mile radius around town center, the eastern portion of Still River Road, and around Bare Hill Pond. A Town Meeting vote last spring authorized the Select Board to lease a portion of the Hildreth House property for the purpose of installing a cell tower.
Maxson said there are only two ownership options that make sense. One is for the town to rent the property to either a cell tower company or a wireless carrier. The lessee would build and own the tower and rent it out to carriers. The lion’s share, if not all, of the carrier rent would go to the tower owner. The town would have little risk other than a liability as the property landlord, but it would also have little or no control over the use and maintenance of the tower.
The other option is for the town to own the tower, but have the carriers fund its construction. Once built, the tower would be turned over to the town, and carriers would lease space and pay common maintenance fees, leaving little cost to the town except for insurance on the tower itself. With this option, Harvard’s Department of Public Works would need to keep an eye on the tower and make sure regular maintenance was done. Maxson said the town’s liability may be higher if it owns the tower and it is the landlord for all the carriers, but it would have more control over maintenance and the number of carriers it leases to.
Maxson said the second option is “the brass ring of deals” because it provides much more revenue to the town than the first option. He said it was used successfully in the town of Dover 20 years ago, when coverage there was poor, and four carriers were “chomping at the bit” to get on a cell tower in the center of that town. He said, “We have a sense that might be the case here.”
Since that time, Sprint was bought by T-Mobile, leaving only three carriers on the Dover tower. But Maxson said DISH Network is also interested in leasing cell tower space, and it has taken the place of Sprint in some locations.
Monopine maintenance
Select Board member Kara Minar asked Maxson if the town could require camouflage on the tower. Maxson said it would increase construction costs, so those terms would have to be included in the bid package. He said it also increases maintenance costs; monopine “branches” occasionally break or fall off. If the town owned the tower, it could include those costs in the carrier maintenance fees. But if it doesn’t, it would be up to the owner to maintain the camouflage; the town would have no control over that.
The board decided to wait until Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro investigated insurance costs and liabilities for both choices so that information could be factored into its decision. When the choice is made, Isotrope will write the RFP. Maxson said the town can probably recover Isotrope’s consulting costs from the carriers it will eventually lease to.
If the town chooses to do what Dover did, Maxson said, he’d like to see at least two carriers bid to make the capital contributions. Those carriers would then be reimbursed for capital costs by the other one or two carriers that would likely come on soon after the tower is built. But it’s preferable if all the carriers bid up front—that makes it “a nice clean package,” he said.
