The City Council on Sept. 9 unanimously approved the second amendment to an easement Verizon Wireless for facilities at 3900 Lampson Ave. The council also adopted a budget amendment that increases the expected revenue from renting out telecom property by $53,000.
This was a Consent Calendar item. Consent items are voted on collectively unless a council member pulls one for further discussion. Nothing was pulled from this week’s calendar.
“The City of Seal Beach has several wireless facilities located on City-owned property,” according to Community Development Director Alexa Smittle.
“These relationships are typically governed by leases or easement agreements to allow the use of public property for wireless or broadband purposes, and the City is compensated for the use of its property,” Smittle wrote.
“This subject site is located at 3900 Lampson Avenue, at the southeast corner of the Seal Beach Tennis and Pickleball Center (SBTPC), and has been operating as a wireless facility since August 1995,” Smittle wrote.
“The original 1995 Easement Agreement was entered into by Bixby Ranch Company and AirTouch. When the SBTPC was transferred to the City, the City became a party to the Easement Agreement. The Easement Agreement was previously amended in December 2017 to extend the term, modify the annual fee escalation, and apply a revenue share provision where the City receives 20 percent of any rents received by AirTouch for use of the tower by a third party,” Smittle wrote.
“The purpose of the proposed Second Amendment to the Easement Agreement is to extend the term, currently set to expire August 31, 2035, by 40 years, in the form of 8 five-year extensions. This extension makes this tower more desirable to wireless providers, with greater potential for subleases of the tower, which does increase revenues for the City by a small amount through the revenue share component of the Easement Agreement. However, the Easement Agreement also regulates the number of antennae that can be present on the tower,” Smittle wrote.
“As part of the proposed Amendment, annual rent will see a slight increase, going from the anticipated revenue this year of $36,896 to $39,600. Additionally, staff negotiated with California Tower, Inc. to make a one-time payment of $50,000 within thirty days upon approval, execution, and recording of the amended and restated lease. Rent will continue to increase by 3 percent each year, and the 20 percent revenue share for tower subleases remains as well,” Smittle wrote.
“The City will generate an additional $2,704 in revenue to the City in the first year, with the annual lease rate inflation of 3 percent commencing September 2025,” Smittle wrote.
