[HISTORY: Adopted by the Commissioners of the Town of Ridgely 2-15-2000
by Ord. No. 204. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Cable televisions — See Ch. 81.
The Commissioners of Ridgely have received requests from telecommunications
service providers wishing to locate their telecommunications facilities on
town-owned property. The Commissioners of Ridgely have determined that a uniform
policy for reviewing these requests is desirable.
Priority for the use of town-owned land for telecommunications facilities
will be given to the following entities in descending order:
A.
The Commissioners of Ridgely.
B.
Public safety agencies, including law enforcement, fire
and ambulance services, which are not part of the town and private entities
with a public safety agreement with the town.
C.
Other governmental agencies, for uses which are not related
to public safety.
D.
Entities providing licensed commercial wireless telecommunication
services, including cellular, personal communication services ("PCS"), specialized
mobilized radio ("SMR"), enhanced specialized mobilized radio ("ESMR"), paging
and similar services that are marketed to the general public.
The placement of telecommunications facilities on town-owned property
must comply with the following requirements:
A.
The telecommunications facility will not adversely interfere
with the purpose for which the town-owned property is intended;
B.
The applicant is willing to obtain adequate liability
insurance and commit to a lease agreement which includes equitable compensation
for the use of public land and other necessary provisions and safeguards.
The fees shall be established by the Commissioners of Ridgely after considering
comparable rates in other jurisdictions, potential expenses, risks to the
town and other appropriate factors;
C.
The applicant will submit a letter of credit, performance
bond or other security acceptable to the Commissioners of Ridgely to cover
the costs of telecommunications facility removal;
D.
The telecommunications facility will not interfere with other applicants who have a higher priority as discussed in § 168-2 above;
E.
Upon reasonable notice, telecommunications facilities
may be required to be removed at the applicant's expense;
F.
The applicant must reimburse the Commissioners of Ridgely
for any costs which the town incurs because of the presence of the applicant's
telecommunications facilities;
G.
The applicant must obtain all necessary land approvals;
and
H.
The applicant will cooperate with the town's objective
to promote collocation and thus limit the number of separate telecommunications
facility sites requested.
The use of certain town-owned property, such as water tower sites and
parks, for locating telecommunications facilities results in special concerns
due to the unique nature of such sites. The placement of telecommunications
facilities on these special town-owned sites will be allowed only when the
following additional requirements are met:
A.
Water tower sites. The town's water towers represent
a large public investment in water pressure stabilization and peak capacity
reserves. Protection of the quality of the town's water supply is of
prime importance to the town. As access to the town's water storage system
increases, so too the potential for contamination of the public water supply
increases. For these reasons, the placement of telecommunications facilities
on water tower or reservoir sites will be allowed only when the town is fully
satisfied that the following requirements are met:
(1)
The applicant's access to the telecommunications
facility will not increase the risks of contamination to the town's water
supply;
(2)
There is sufficient room on the structure and/or on the
grounds to accommodate the applicant's telecommunications facility;
(3)
The presence of the telecommunications facility will
not increase the water tower or maintenance cost to the town; and
(4)
The presence of the telecommunications facility will
not harm the health of workers maintaining the water tower.
B.
Parks. The presence of certain telecommunications facilities
may present a potential conflict with the purpose of some town-owned parks.
Telecommunications facilities will be considered in parks upon the recommendation
of the Committee and approval of the Town Council.
A.
The town may terminate any lease if it determines that
any of the following conditions exist:
(1)
A potential applicant with a higher priority cannot find
another adequate location and potential use would be incompatible with the
existing use;
(2)
An applicant's frequency broadcast unreasonably
interferes with other applicants of a higher priority, regardless of whether
or not this interference was adequately predicted in the technical analysis;
or
(3)
An applicant violates any of the standards in this policy
or the conditions attached to the town's permission.
B.
Before taking action, the town will provide notice to
the applicant of the intended termination and the reasons for it, and provide
an opportunity for the applicant to address the town regarding the proposed
action.
C.
This procedure need not be followed in emergency situations.
Notwithstanding the above, the town reserves the right to deny, for
any reason, the use of any all town-owned property to any one or all applicants.
