By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
A request to possibly build a cell phone tower in Decatur came before city council Tuesday night.
Allisun Bredemeyer, a Fort Wayne resident representing Buck Site Acquistions, contracted with Horvath Communications, brought the request.
She said her firm is seeking sites for a Verizon cell phone tower and areas being looked at in Decatur are three tracts of land. One is unoccupied, near Fred Isch Drive, west of Prime Inc. the freight transport company. The other two are land on which Prime is situated and on which Champion homes is located.
The unoccupied land is one of the largest tracts in Industrial Park III and is, according to Mayor Pro Tempore Matt Dyer, “shovel ready.”
Two tracts within that site are owned by the Decatur Redevelopment Commission and a third is the city’s.
Bredemeyer said a piece of land measuring approximately 100 feet by 100 feet is needed, and Verizon would need access to that land and the tower.
She said the company would like a “perpetual lease.”
According to Bredemeyer, Verizon wants land off Fred Isch Drive because “they feel there is a large gap on the south side (of Decatur) and that’s the area they are focusing on.”
She indicated that once all the paperwork is signed, it would “probably take less than a year to get it (tower) up.”
Councilwoman Abby Wilder said she would like Bredemeyer to contact Champion and Prime officials to determine if they would have any objections to the tower being on the unoccupied site. “Their input would be very important,” she said.
Bredemeyer agreed that that would be done.
Councilman Jenny Bowers-Shultz asked if the company would be interested in making monthly payments on the land rather than the flat fee. Bredemeyer didn’t seem to give a clear answer, but appeared to doubt that would be acceptable.
With council having been a bit blindsided by the subject – there had been no request to be on the meeting agenda – Dyer he wouldn’t want to make a decision without Mayor Dan Rickord on hand, and also would like input fromAdams County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Colton Bickel.
Bredemeyer agreed to return in two weeks for the next council meeting, on March 19.