The Morgan County Commissioners agreed to a new lease agreement with a major telecommunications company to remain on a prominent cellular tower in the middle of Jacksonville.
The commissioners renewed a lease agreement on Monday with AT&T for a five-year contract to continue to remain on the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department cell tower with some changes.
Morgan County Planner Dusty Douglas says that AT&T has had equipment on the tower for over twenty years: “The county originally entered into an agreement with [AT&T] in February 2000. However, the agreement expired in 2020, and the county has allowed AT&T to continue to use the tower…on a month to month arrangement.”
Douglas says that the new contract has some changes to it that will be more appealing to the county: “We’re getting a bit of a raise from AT&T will be $2,333 per month or $28,000 per year. Now, they do have more equipment than DISH and have their equipment higher on the tower. When you see an agreement from DISH, hopefully in the next couple of months, it will be less. I think we will probably end up around $40,000 per year in lease fees on the tower. Upon execution, the county will be reimbursed $2,000 for legal costs to Mr. [Michael] Jurusik, and rent shall increase 15% on January 1, 2028 and at the beginning of each subsequent extension term.”
Douglas says that an inventory of obsolete and extra equipment, which is owned by AT&T, at the storage shed near the tower has been taken. With the new agreement, the hope is to move that equipment out to provide more storage room for the sheriff’s office.
Douglas says that an agreement with DISH is expected to take longer to get done due to some disagreement with the format of the terms that the county is asking for. However, Douglas anticipates the agreement should be coming soon.