Sleepy Hollow approves lease for controversial cell tower
Sleepy Hollow officials have agreed to the terms of a deal that will allow a controversial cellphone tower to be built on village-owned property.
However, the Illinois attorney general's office is now looking into whether the village board violated the Open Meetings Act during its closed-session discussions of the proposal.
National Wireless Ventures LLC will pay the village a base rate of $1,800 per month to rent land behind the village hall at 1 Thorobred Lane, where the company will install and maintain the 125-foot-tall tower, Village President Stephan Pickett said. The structure will be disguised to look like a windmill, he said, which better harmonizes with the village's rural atmosphere than a standard monopole.
The tower will start operating with service for one wireless carrier, Pickett said, and National Wireless' rent will increase incrementally as other companies are included on the cell tower.
The village board this week voted 4-2 to approve the lease agreement with National Wireless after more than a year of negotiations and heated discussions over the tower's necessity and intrusiveness. Trustees Dennis Fudala and Scott Finney, one of the tower's most vocal opponents, voted against the measure.
Several Sleepy Hollow residents, especially those who live nearby, have also publicly spoken out against the cell tower and the National Wireless deal. Among them is former Trustee Tom Merkel, who this month filed a request for review by a public access counselor claiming village officials failed to comply with the Open Meetings Act.
In the request, Merkel accuses the village of erroneously allowing company representatives to participate in a March 21, 2016, closed session.
Additionally, he alleges the village board held at least two executive sessions in which conversations about the cell tower deal were not entirely about the lease terms and, therefore, should have been held in open session. Discussions about a price for a property lease or sale are permitted in closed sessions.
"Their actions were certainly inappropriate and taint the whole process with National Wireless, due to the appearance of impropriety," Merkel's request says.
In a March 17 letter to Pickett, the attorney general's office said it will assess whether the village board's closed sessions were "fully authorized." The village was asked to provide copies of minutes and verbatim recordings of all closed-session discussions relating to the cell tower proposal.
The village will be "completely cooperative" with the attorney general's office, Pickett said, but he declined to comment further.
Meanwhile, the village's lease deal with National Wireless allows the company a maximum nine-month due diligence period, though Pickett said company representatives indicated they plan to begin installing the cell tower - and paying rent - sooner. Company CEO Bob Stapleton declined to comment on the agreement.