Silver Bay considers lease to county for fiber

Talk about it

At Monday's Silver Bay City Council meeting, councilors discussed leasing space at City Hall to Lake County to use for the fiber optic project.

The County would renovate what was formerly the police chief's office and install a generator, equipment and a cooling system. The space to be leased is about 100 square feet. The proposed term of the lease is 23 years, which is the life expectancy of the equipment they will install.

The County would also complete additional renovations to the building for the City. Renovations would have an estimated value of $15,000 and would serve as payment of the rent for the full term of the lease. Old storage space would be turned into new office space for the police department.

"It's actually improving working space for all police officers," said Lana Fralich, City Administrator, after the meeting.

This value did not include an architect fee that has already been paid by Lake County to prepare plans for the City Hall renovations.

"It's a basic lease agreement," City Attorney Pete Morris said during the meeting. "The only thing I would say about the rent is to keep in mind that the longer the term, the harder it is to know what inflation might be."

He also noted that getting payment in renovations up front means that the full amount would be received even if there is an early termination of the lease. "Once that payment's made, it's made," Morris said.

Councilor David Gustafson wanted to make sure there would be opportunities to review the lease, considering its long term. City Administrator Lana Fralich said that in the past, Lake County and Silver Bay have always been able to work together smoothly and that changes could be made at any time during the lease if both parties came to an agreement.

"I think as long as we have open lines of communications, it'll be fine," said Councilor Carlene Perfetto.

The council agreed that the language in the lease agreement should be a term of 23 years with review upon request. A special meeting to finalize the decision will be held next Monday at 4:30 p.m.

At the special meeting, councilors will also review and take action on the city administrator contract.

Tags: silver bay city council, fiber optic, lake county, news