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of the building. Staff is recommending that the fence be constructed out of a wood privacy <br />material or materials that closely match the exterior wall finishes on the building. The applicant <br />is proposing to utilize an existing driveway to access the equipment building. There will be no <br />personnel stationed at the site on a permanent basis. She advised that the City Council has <br />discussed this application at a recent work session and would like to hire a consultant to <br />determine how many more users can go onto this tower and explore the possibility of <br />constructing an equipment building to accommodate all possible future users. Staff is in the <br />process of finding a consultant to conduct that study. She advised that the applicant has been <br />informed of this and the City's willingness to consider a temporary equipment building until <br />such time that a permanent building is constructed. The City Attorney is currently reviewing the <br />proposed lease agreement from Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless is proposing to enter into a <br />lease agreement with the City of Ramsey for water tower and equipment space in the amount of <br />$12,732 annually. City staff recommends approval of the request contingent upon an approved <br />landscape plan, the fence being constructed out of materials that provide 100% screening from <br />surrounding properties, and the City entering into a lease agreement with Verizon Wireless. <br /> <br />Citizen Input <br /> <br />Chairperson Nixt questioned the ability to create or reasonableness of requiring 100% screening. <br /> <br />Jim Nelson, of Buell Consulting and representing Verizon Communications, stated he has been <br />working with City staff on this application. He stated he has some thoughts about the potential <br />for the City to build their own equipment building. <br /> <br />Chairperson Nixt asked Mr. Nelson to make comment on the equipment building. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson stated the equipment building is constructed to be a climate controlled structure to <br />house the radio controlled equipment. The electronics are maintained on a monthly basis to <br />assure everything is operating correctly. He stated that security would be an issue for Verizon <br />Communications and they would not be comfortable with placing their equipment into an open <br />area that is accessible to others. With regard to the potential of the City constructing the <br />equipment building, that is within the City's purview but it is his past experience that would be <br />an unusual situation. Mr. Nelson stated he is unsure what the issues are since he was not in <br />attendance at the Council meeting but believes they are probably related to aesthetic. <br /> <br />Chairperson Nixt stated that would also be his assumption given this location in a predominantly <br />residential area. <br /> <br />Community Development Assistant Wald stated the City Council did not want four different <br />buildings at the base of this property, due to aesthetics, and since it is surrounded by residential. <br /> <br />Chairperson Nixt asked if these antennas will also provide paging so another user may not be <br />feasible due to conflicting signals. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson stated he is not an engineer but it is his understanding that Verizon's first thought <br />was to locate on the top of the tower tank. However, after revising their coverage area, it was <br /> <br />Planning Commission/April 3, 2001 <br /> Page 3 of 18 <br /> <br /> <br />