Cell phone company's City Hall plan splits panel

La Crosse Tribune, Oct 31, 2000 by Kent, Joan

A city committee tied Monday on whether to allow a cell phone company to put a facility on top of City Hall.

The La Crosse Plan Commission voted 3-3 on a communication site lease agreement with Nextel WIP Lease Corp.

"I just believe the City Hall roof should be used for our communications," said City Engineer Randy Turtenwald, one of the commission members voting against the lease.

Concerns have been expressed that the facility could interfere with the city's emergency communications. To address them, the proposed lease says the city would have the right to shut the operation down immediately if it interferes within the first 180 days of operation or the first 180 days after any new equipment is installed.

After those time periods, the! company would need to respond within 30 minutes of a problem or be shut down.

The lease for 625 square feet on the roof would be for five years, with three more five-year options. Nextel would pay the city $1,500 per month, to increase at 5 percent a year.

Mayor John Medinger, committee chairman, and members John Satory and Sam Solverson voted to allow the facility on the roof. Richard Becker, Turtenwald and Bernie Mullenbach voted against it.

The Common Council's Judiciary and Administration, Highways, Properties and Utilities and Finance and Personnel committees will consider the lease this week, and the Committee of the Whole and council will consider it next week.

The commission voted unanimously for an ordinance to prohibit the use of trailers or shipping containers as a substitute for a principal building or accessory building. The ordinance initially was aimed at the State Road Kmart, where neighbors have complained of trailers parked on the lot for long periods.

"They're now doing a great job of clearing up the parking lot," said Steve Geier, one of the neighbors. "But things change, people change. There may be a different manager whose views are different from what they're doing now. I feel if we do not have an ordinance, we could revert back to the problems we had."

The ordinance would allow some exceptions, including trailers for warehousing at least 75 feet from a residential zone, for retail sales for

up to 72 hours three times a year in non-residence zones, and on construction sites.

Representatives of stores in Old Towne North left the meeting happy after the commission voted to reallocate about $140,000 of the Capital Improvement Budget to streetscaping on Caledonia Street next year. The money is part of $241,000 that had to be reallocated because the state did not fund its share of a resurfacing on a portion of State Street. The commission voted to put the rest of the money toward renovating the Pettibone Bath House.

In other business, the commission voted:

* To endorse the concept of creating a Coulee Region Industrial Park Corp.

* To approve the Miller Valley Addition preliminary and final plat without sidewalks at the south end.