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Stafford to consider allowing cell towers on county sites [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]
[October 22, 2014]

Stafford to consider allowing cell towers on county sites [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]


(Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 22--Stafford County supervisors have taken a step toward allowing telecommunication companies to use county-owned properties.

On Tuesday, supervisors unanimously voted to allow staff to move forward with discussions with a communications company that would market about 60 county-owned properties to telecommunications companies.

In exchange, Milestone Communications Management III Inc. would receive a portion of the lease fees paid by those companies.

Stafford would lease the properties to Milestone for a 20-year period. Milestone would build and own the towers on the sites that the telecommunication companies would pay a fee to use.

The county would receive a lease fee for the site from Milestone, but also a portion of the lease fee paid by the telecommunication carrier. Staff said the agreement could potentially bring substantial revenue to the county over a 20-year period.



Supervisors only moved forward with discussions on marketing the county sites on Tuesday.

Before a tower is built on each site, it would have to go through the Planning Commission and get approval by the Board of Supervisors. Several public hearings would have to be held. Staff will come back to supervisors before final agreements with Milestone are made.


Originally, both school and county sites were proposed to be marketed. But since the School Board hasn't pursued the topic, supervisors took off the school sites for marketing on Tuesday.

Before realizing that the school sites were taken off the list of marketable sites, Supervisor Cord Sterling Said he didn't want any of the school sites that serve his constituents to be put on that list.

Supervisors also decided Tuesday not to support a resolution expressing opposition to expansion at the Stafford Regional Airport. The resolution was brought up by Sterling. His motion to approve the resolution wasn't seconded, forcing the resolution to die.

The resolution requested that the airport authority "cease the pursuit of future airport expansion and changes in traffic patterns." The resolution also requests that the state and Federal Aviation Administration not fund or approve any such expansion or changes.

The airport is pursuing plans to extend the runway by 1,000 feet and adding a northern traffic pattern.

The resolution states the future traffic patterns and runway extension will take the flight path over dense neighborhoods, including Colonial Forge at Augustine subdivision and Colonial Forge High School.

Stafford Regional Airport Authority Chairman Hank Scharpenberg said after the meeting that the expansion of the airport's traffic pattern wouldn't impact any school or hospital. If the traffic pattern is expanded, it would nick the edge of Colonial Forge High School's property, he said. He added that if some planned commercial communities are built out, it may impact them.

"The public doesn't really know what's going on, what the impacts will be. Given that, there's been steps taken on moving with this expansion. I think it's time to take pause and make sure the residents fully know what's going on," Sterling said.

A resident from the Augustine North development expressed support for the resolution. Many children in Augustine North attend Colonial Forge High School.

Vanessa Remmers: 540/735-1975 [email protected] ___ (c)2014 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) Visit The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) at www.fredericksburg.com/flshome Distributed by MCT Information Services

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