Burlington eyes cell tower offer, expansion of parking
By Jeanie Mayer For The Courier-News June 19, 2012 9:00PM
Updated: July 21, 2012 6:19AM
BURLINGTON — Village President Kathy Loos told trustees at Monday’s village board meeting that the village has received an offer to purchase the village’s cell tower for $175,000.
The company that made the offer, AP Wireless Infrastructure Partners, wants to take over the village’s lease agreement with Verizon and add additional cellular customers to the site.
Loos told the firm that the amount would not be enough, and a second offer was made for about half that amount up front plus a 50/50 share of the money earned from leasing the tower, according to Village Attorney Nancy Harbottle.
Trustees said they felt they could possibly market the tower to other cell providers and increase their leasing abilities without a third party. No final decision was made at this time.
In other business:
The board heard a request from the Central Youth Football League to expand its parking lot on land the organization leases from the village. Harbottle said an intergovernmental agreement is needed involving the Burlington Park District, the village and Central School District 301, since all three entities are stake-holders in the land used for practices and games.
Several options were discussed to expand and reconfigure the parking in order to allow safer access to the lot for the many residents and visitors who attend games and practices throughout the season. The board is expected to have an agreement and a possible solution by the next board meeting.
The CYFL announced additional plans to purchase lightning-detection devices, a defibrillator and new uniforms. The group’s long-range goal is also to erect a permanent concession stand on the property.
Harbottle announced she had been contacted by Elgin Community College’s representative, John Regan, regarding the progress of the ECC Public Safety and Sustainability Center planned for construction in the village. She said college officials are awaiting engineering approvals of the land and are close to submitting an application by the end of the week.
At completion, the center will rest on a 98-acre site in the village and will provide emergency personnel training programs and other courses for area residents.
Village Engineer John Whitehouse said that once the application is on file, the board will be able to review a concept plan and, if that is accepted, will forward it to the plan commission for analysis. Whitehouse said that if all goes well, a public hearing on the plan may be expected as early as August or September.
