District approval for cell phone towers on school lands likely

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

The Clark County School Board on Thursday is expected to approve renting space on School District property to cellular phone companies, a moneymaking idea that was proposed at least as far back as 1994.

In the last year and a half, district staff identified 19 high schools and nine administrative locations that appear to be geographically suitable for the towers. Existing light poles at playing fields and fenced equipment buildings would be likely locations. Companies would not be allowed to attach advertising to the towers.

School Board President Larry Mason said he's in favor of the leases, which could be a "big moneymaker." Mason said he and his School Board colleague, Susan Brager-Wellman, both suggested the district lease space for towers when they were first elected to the board in 1994.

Brager-Wellman said she and Mason had pushed strongly for a leasing program a decade ago but were stymied by the environmental concerns of some community groups and parents.

"Back then people were a lot more leery and we didn't know as much as we do now about the technology," Brager-Wellman said. "I'm confident now that there have been enough studies and reports to show there is no risk to our students or our staff, which obviously would be our number one priority."

The Environmental Protection Agency has determined the risk of radiation exposure from cellular phone towers to be minimal. Radio and television transmissions are actually at a higher power level than cellular phone frequencies, according to the EPA.

The proposal before the School Board calls for a minimum bid of $1,500 per site. One cellular phone tower could hold up to five antennas, each of which could be leased to a different company, said Bramby Tollen, director of purchasing and warehousing for the district.

Even with just a single antenna leasing for the minimum amount, each site could yield at least $18,000 in annual revenue. A full tower of five antennas at that price would earn $90,000 annually.

State statute requires that the leases be handled by the district's central office, which would also be responsible for collecting and disbursing the revenue, Tollen said. District officials decided not to recommend financial bonuses for schools that host the towers, Tollen said.

"Schools in newer areas that are built out are the ones that are most likely to get the towers," Tollen said. "Is it fair to give them money over a school site in an older area that isn't as desirable? The idea was if we were going to do this, we would do it so that it was a benefit to for everybody, and not just schools that were lucky enough to be in the right place."

But Mason said he believed the school hosting the tower should be compensated in some way, either with cash or perhaps free wireless services from the provider leasing the antenna space.

"There's potential here for a lot of money, and I'd like to see the schools share in some of it, if there's a good formula we can use," Mason said.

The School Board first approved exploring the possibility of leasing space for the towers near the end of 2003. Since then, Tollen said, her office has been busy conducting market studies to determine appropriate pricing and hammering out a contract that satisfied legal authorities both for the district and the state.

If the School Board approves the proposal, the district will join other public entities across the state that have cut similar deals.

Clark County currently leases cellular phone tower space for $1,800 per month, Tollen said. The final price for the School District will depend in part on an appraiser's report, Tollen said.

Dale Sanderson, plant facilities administrator for the Washoe County School District, said Reed High School has leased space for a cellular phone tower since 1999. The tower leases bring in about $1,330 per month and the school spends the money on capital improvements, Sanderson said.

A second tower, located at one of the district's older transportation buildings, has also been leasing cellular phone tower space for about six years, Sanderson said. That contract has yielded about $50,000 so far.

When the Reed High plan was first proposed, there was "a buzzsaw of concern from parents" about safety issues, Sanderson said. But a pending proposal to lease space at Sparks High School has brought no opposition.

"People are more used to the technology now, they know we aren't irradiating the kids and making money from it," Sanderson said. "If we don't sell the space, the shopping center across the street from the school is going to do it and we won't see any of the revenue."

Washoe County school officials would like to add more towers but lack the staff needed to actively market the proposal to potential customers, Sanderson said.

"If we could we'd put them at all our high schools," Sanderson said.