JAMESBURG — In an effort to increase revenue, the Borough Council unanimously introduced an ordinance last week that would authorize the leasing of property to the highest bidder for the construction and maintenance of a cellular antenna tower.
The borough will join the ranks of many area municipalities, including Monroe and Helmetta, that are renting space to wireless telecommunications companies in exchange for revenue that goes into the municipal budgets.
Leasing the property is expected to annually bring in $25,000 of "pure revenue for the borough," said Borough Business Administrator Denise Jawidzik.
According to Jawidzik, the highest bidder will be financially responsible for constructing and maintaining the tower. There will be no expense for the borough, she said.
If the ordinance is adopted at the Sept. 25 council meeting, the borough could then solicit bids and award a contract to the highest-bidding company.
The highest bidder will remove an existing 80-foot tower currently used for police radios from a Perrineville Road site adjacent to the borough’s municipal building. The company will then construct a maximum of 12 antennas on a higher monopole, said Borough Attorney Frederick Raffetto.
Voicestream Wireless Com-munication has already requested the bidding specifications for the project, Jawidzik said.
Raffetto said that under state law the council has 60 days to award the contract or reject all bids.
Upon adoption of the ordinance, the highest bidder will have to go before the Planning board to seek site plan approval to construct the cell tower, said Jawidzik.
Officials are enthusiastic about the prospect for budgetary revenue, as they were notified in July that they would receive $100,000 less in state aid than was previously anticipated in the initial 2002 budget.
Local officials also anticipate that the anticipated construction of a CVS pharmacy and an office building on Forsgate Drive will also bring more tax revenue to the borough’s coffers in future years.
The cell tower ordinance will be open for public comment during a meeting Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.
— Sandi Carpello

