Whitefish Council looks at cell tower contract

Whitefish City Council on Monday will consider a new agreement for a cell tower located at Memorial Park.  

The city entered into a license agreement in 2015 with Gold Creek Cellular of Montana allowing Verizon to maintain a cell tower at the park. The original agreement expired and now the company is looking to enter into a new contract.  

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St. 

The original license agreement provided an initial yearly payment of $18,000 with an annual increase.  

Due to market influences, Verizon has asked to renegotiate the terms of the license agreement, according to a memo by City Attorney Angela Jacobs. The new agreement would be for five years with an automatic extension for another term of five years, and the annual rent would be $26,644 for the first year and would increase annually by 12%.  

Under the new agreement, the city would receive about $11,000 less for the first five-year term. During the second five-year renewal period, the city would receive about $26,000 less. 

The Glacier Twins baseball team leases Memorial Park from the city. A memorandum of understanding provides that the funds from the cell tower be distributed to the Twins for maintenance of the stadium at Memorial Park.  

Also on the agenda is a request to annex 2 acres on Lund Lane into the city. Property owners Olivia Boyle and Danielle Hirshberg requested annexation of the parcel, which contains a single-family home and accessory buildings.  

Several lots to the north and west have been annexed into the city.  

During a work session at 6 p.m., Council is set to hear an update on the land use chapter of the city’s growth policy.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 406-758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.