The dance continues between the Sedona Fire District and the Sedona- Oak Creek Airport Authority regarding an updated cell tower contract.
A 10-year lease contract between SFD and the airport — for a cell tower owned by SFD but sitting on Airport Mesa — was ready to be signed but was postponed until Feb. 27. It was then before the airport’s governing board on March 10 but it was again postponed.
“While it was on the agenda for consideration, the SFD has failed to provide our board with comprehensive information on the sublessees on their tower in a timely fashion,” Airport Manager Ed Rose said the day after the meeting. “I cannot recommend its consideration absent complete information. Therefore, our board tabled the item pending receipt of said requested information.”
SFD Chief Jon Trautwein said the district provided a fully-executed agreement for consideration between the SFD and the airport back in November 2020. He said that recently, the airport requested a tenant agreement that SFD subsequently only had verbally.
“On March 4, the SFD provided a fully-executed agreement between SFD and our tenant to the airport,” Trautwein said. “On March 9, the afternoon before the Airport’s Board meeting, the airport requested some changes to our agreement with our tenant. We provided draft changes and informed the airport that to turn around a fully-executed agreement overnight was not possible.
“We have continued to negotiate in good faith and provide everything that has been requested in a reasonable time.”
Negotiations began last March with both sides going back and forth on a dollar amount. As noted, the fire district owns the tower on the north side of the airport. On it are six entities that lease space and pay SFD. They include Sedona Internet Services, TPT SpeedConnect, Taurus Technology Investment Partners, Commspeed, Sedona Police Department and the city of Sedona IT department. Each has to meet regulations set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.
According to Trautwein, SFD receives $2,346.19 a month for “cost recovery” from these entities on their tower. As the contract with the airport stands now, it’s for another 10 years with SFD paying $1,000 a month to lease the land under the tower the first year. In years two to four, that increases to $1,500 a month and then years five to 10 it jumps to $2,000 per month. Once the contract is signed, the monthly payment will be retroactive to Oct. 1.
The current contract, which expired in September, called for SFD to pay $1 a year for the lease of the land for the tower.
SFD Governing Board Chairman Dave Soto said a concern of his board was that there was no basis for this amount and they feel it was rather arbitrary.
“So this very well could be perceived that this [figure] came out of thin air rather than some sort of factual, numerical equation that we could really hang our hat on?” Soto asked during November’s SFD meeting.
Late last year, Soto said the airport considered getting that parcel of land under the cell tower appraised but deemed it was too costly to do. Rose said a communications land appraisal can cost upward of $25,000.
In terms of how the airport came to this figure, Rose said it’s through prior appraisals for the same property — while adding the increases in the consumer price index since that appraisal — and applying that rate.
“Lessors hosting antennas ordinarily receive a flat rate rent plus 10% to 30% of any activity the structure hosts,” he said. “We’ve foregone that percentage.”
