LAKEPORT, Calif. – A plan to place a cell tower in a Kelseyville neighborhood that's raised concerns from residents was before the Board of Supervisors again on Tuesday, with the board deciding to continue the matter at least one more time after negotiations stalled for an alternate location on school property.

Epic Wireless Group, on behalf of Verizon Wireless, filed an appeal over the Lake County Planning Commission's decision last year to deny a major use permit to place a 75-foot-tall monopole cell tower on a portion of a 17-acre property at 5660 Staheli Drive.

The tower originally was proposed to look like a tree but the Tuesday discussion also referred to a possible water tower design and a reduced tower height of 64 feet.

Company officials said Verizon is attempting to fill a “significant” 19-square-mile coverage gap that includes 3,700 Lake County residents and a three-mile stretch of Highway 29, and settled on the Staheli Drive location as the preferred site.

Neighbors of the project have objected due to its close proximity to homes, vineyards and open space, while local law enforcement has supported additional cell facilities for emergency response.

The Board of Supervisors began holding public hearings on the appeal in the summer, and then held the matter over for several more months as Verizon continued to explore other options at the board's request.

By the time Epic Wireless and Verizon Wireless representatives appeared before the board again on Tuesday morning, the matter had been agendized for discussion at six separate board meetings beginning in June.

Outgoing Board Chair Rob Brown told Lake County News that when the matter was on the board's Dec. 13 agenda – at which time it was again continued due to discussions between Epic Wireless and the Kelseyville Unified School District regarding a possible site on school property – it was set for Tuesday's meeting due to public noticing requirements.

On Tuesday, the main order of board business has been the welcoming of two new supervisors, Tina Scott and Moke Simon.

When the Verizon matter came up, Brown said the matter had previously been held over because the company and the school district were discussing an agreement to place a tower near the district office. He said he had just found out that morning that the company was asking to move forward with the appeal.

Epic Wireless representative Andrew Lesa asked the board to move forward with making a decision because he had received a message from the school district making a request that he said was a “nonstarter.”

At that point, the audience in the board chambers was largely empty except for county staffers, with no concerned community members there to speak about the matter.

As a result, Brown said he was uncomfortable with moving forward due to the public apparently not knowing a decision was going to be made.

County planning staff gave a brief review of the project, which was accompanied by a cumulative report that was nearly an inch thick. Planner Keith Gronendyke said he hadn't talked to the project applicants since December.

Lesa told the board that Verizon had looked at a total of 16 alternate locations for the tower, with the most recent one being at the Kelseyville Unified property.

He said he met with members of the school board and the district maintenance manager to determine the best location for the facility.

That led to the consideration of a spot near the ballfields in the parking lot next to the district office, which Lesa said Verizon's engineers said would provide adequate coverage to the Kelseyville community and the Highway 29 corridor.

Lesa said the proposal went before the Kelseyville Unified School Board, and the company was asked to return to answer additional questions at subsequent meetings because the board wanted more community feedback before making a decision.

The district had indicated to Lesa that the board wanted to make a decision in February. Then, on Monday afternoon, he received an email from Superintendent Dave McQueen spelling out terms the board wanted included in a draft contract, to be submitted by Jan. 9, that Verizon determined were nonstarters.

Those terms included a rental rate that Lesa said is four times higher than the market rate for Lake County and for the original proposed location on Staheli Drive; early termination rights at three- or five-year intervals, which is a problem due to investment and emergency response, and the fact that Verizon often has contracts of 20 years or more; and a request to provide some Internet service in exchange for locating the facility on school property, which Lesa said is not permissible under Verizon's licensing agreements.

Verizon representative Ed Godfrey said the company feels wireless capability is as important as water and electrical infrastructure, and they wanted to fill the coverage gap ahead of the upcoming fire season. He said 70 percent of all 911 phone calls are made on wireless devices.

Godfrey said Verizon has been working on the project for two and a half to three years, and the Staheli Drive location is the least intrusive way to address the coverage gap.

Supervisor Jim Steele said he was willing to move forward, and asked if Lesa had responded to McQueen's request. Lesa said no, that he had received the email from McQueen late on Monday.

Board Chair Jeff Smith joined Brown in saying he wanted to wait to take action.

Pointing out that the location at the school district is next to a county park, Brown raised the possibility of Verizon locating a cell facility at the park.

Although none of the project's neighbors had come to speak on the matter, Brown asked Mary Beth Strong, a sheriff's office employee who lives in the neighborhood and was at the meeting on department business, about her understanding of the situation at that point.

“We were led to believe that this decision wasn't going to be made until later in the month,” Strong said.

Scott asked about the normal cell tower rental rate. Godfrey said it was about $1,250 a month.

Brown moved to continue the hearing to 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, which the board voted to approve.

After the discussion, Lake County News asked Lesa directly about the amount the school district was requesting for the tower rental space. He said he could not discuss the matter.

However, when contacted by Lake County News Tuesday afternoon, McQueen shared the specific details about the request he had submitted to Lesa the previous day. At that point, he said he had not had a response back from Lesa.

McQueen said he had asked Lesa for a monthly rental rate on the tower of at least $5,000 in addition to other particulars requested by the board.

“What the board wanted me to do was actually negotiate, but they had four stipulations,” said McQueen.

The first stipulation was the request for more money; the second, a clause allowing the district to reconsider the contract every three to five years and terminate it if it isn't in the best interest of the district or the students; the third, discounted Internet service for students who don't have Internet access; and the fourth, that all of those stipulations be included in a contract, McQueen said.

McQueen said the board received very little public comment on the proposal. At a special meeting held in December to take public comment, only about 10 people showed up.

After the meetings, the board directed McQueen to negotiate, and he said that's what he started to do. In addition to asking for a draft contract to be submitted by Lesa by Jan. 9 so it could be considered by the board at its next meeting, McQueen said he asked Lesa to let him know if he would negotiate with them. He said didn't hear back.

McQueen said he felt Verizon was being inflexible, and added that Kelseyville Unified's priority isn't increasing the profits for businesses. “We're looking out for the interest of the students of the district.”

While it looks like Verizon may not continue its negotiations with the district, McQueen said Kelseyville Unified is continuing to talk to another wireless company, US Cellular, about the possibility of locating a cell facility on district grounds.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.