The Sedona Fire District is experiencing a bit of sticker shock.
A 10-year lease contract between SFD and the Sedona-Oak Creek Airport Authority — for a cell tower owned by SFD but sited on the north side of the airport — was ready to be signed but has now been postponed to at least Saturday, Feb. 27.
The current contract, which expired in September, called for SFD to pay $1 a year for the lease of the land for the tower. The airport authority is looking to greatly increase that figure to something it feels is more equitable.
On Nov. 17, the SFD board split 3-2 on approving a new contract with the airport. The airport authority was scheduled to sign the agreement during its meeting Monday, Dec. 7, but voted to postpone any action.
“The document is not in a state of readiness,” Airport Manager Ed Rose said following the meeting. “It’s a matter of semantics — nothing substantive. Both parties are satisfied with negotiations.”
As the contract stands now, it’s for another 10 years with SFD paying $1,000 a month to lease the land under the tower the first year.
In years two to four, that increases to $1,500 a month and then years five to 10 it jumps to $2,000 per month. Once the contract is signed, the monthly payment will be retroactive to Oct. 1 of 2020.
SFD Governing Board Chairman Dave Soto said a concern of his board was that there was no basis for this amount and they feel it was rather arbitrary.
“So this very well could be perceived that this [figure] came out of thin air rather than some sort of factual, numerical equation that we could really hang our hat on?” Soto asked during November’s SFD meeting.
Soto said this week the airport considered getting that parcel of land under the cell tower appraised but deemed it was too costly. Rose said a communications land appraisal can cost upwards of $25,000.
In terms of how the airport came to this figure, Rose said it’s through prior appraisals for the same property — while adding the increases in the consumer price index since that appraisal — and applying that rate.
“Lessors hosting antennas ordinarily receive a flat rate rent plus 10% to 30% of any activity the structure hosts,” he said. “We’ve foregone that percentage.”
Negotiations began in March with both sides going back and forth on a dollar amount. As noted, the fire district owns the tower on the north side of the airport. On it are six entities that lease space and pay SFD. They include Sedona Internet Services, TPT SpeedConnect, Taurus Technology Investment Partners, Commspeed, Sedona Police Department and the city of Sedona IT department. Each has to meet regulations set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.
According to Chief Jon Trautwein, SFD receives $2,346.19 a month for “cost recovery” from these entities on their tower.
“It should be noted that 100% of the investment, variable cost and day-to-day operating cost at the airport tower is Sedona Fire District,” he said. “It should also be noted that we budget over $1 million a year for our entire telecommunications expenses in the district.
“Another value to the airport is that we provide all hazard fire protection service to the airport for free. As you can imagine, this is significant and will have to be evaluated.”
Last year, the SFD received roughly $200,000 in “communications rents” from its various towers throughout the district.
SFD also leases a tower on the south side of the airport, which serves the Chapel area and the Village of Oak Creek.
Some of the SFD board members expressed concerns last month that while SFD provides emergency services, as well as regular inspections at the airport, the airport authority is not a taxpayer to the fire district. Even though SFD does not recover any fees associated with its services from the airport, Rose said in the event of an airplane crash, the fire district can recoup costs through an insurance claim. Trautwein said SFD has not looked into the legality of doing so.
“They have not been charged full boat and we believe we’re entitled to something that’s fair,” Rose said. “We think this contract amount is more than reasonable. In the end, we want to be a good neighbor.”
