I’ve been working on several projects over the past year, all concerning expansion of additional Emergency Communications in Baraga County, This location is based in Herman, Michigan an area with very high terrain, there used to be a repeater system up in Herman, it was 146.670, this system used to reach as far as Wisconsin, and to Munising, It would cover a WIDE area, it used to be 300′ in the air, at a ground elevation of roughly 1890′. The herman tower was taken down when the State of Michigan deemed the tower unsafe, and essentially cut her down.. You can read some back story here.
I’ve been negotiating with various tower companies to try to gain access to their systems to put up a couple of antennas. I decided I would ask another commercial tower company, that is in the area of Herman. Now several groups in the area have space on American Tower Company towers, and they are paying 1$ a year to 3$ a year for use of the towers. I figured i’d ask American Tower Company for assistance on getting on their tower in Herman Michigan. The response was not what I was expecting , it was pretty much a complete no, at least based on the dollar amounts they wanted from us.
Tower: 417889, Baraga MI
One-time set up fees:
$1,500 Site Inspection fee
$1,000 Structural analysis
Monthly fee: $3,300
Initial terms: 10 years
Renewal terms: 3 (5) year renewals
Annual escalator: 3.5%
Well there goes that one, I guess it’s all about who you know.
Come hell or high water, we will have a new 2 Meter repeater back in Herman, even if we raise a new tower.