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Whitefish Council looks at cell tower contract

HEIDI DESCH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 months, 1 week AGO
by HEIDI DESCH
Heidi Desch is features editor and covers Flathead County for the Daily Inter Lake. She previously served as managing editor of the Whitefish Pilot, spending 10 years at the newspaper and earning honors as best weekly newspaper in Montana. She was a reporter for the Hungry Horse News and has served as interim editor for The Western News and Bigfork Eagle. She is a graduate of the University of Montana. She can be reached at [email protected] or 406-758-4421. | November 16, 2025 11:00 PM

Whitefish City Council on Monday will consider a new agreement for a cell tower located at Memorial Park.  

The city entered into a license agreement in 2015 with Gold Creek Cellular of Montana allowing Verizon to maintain a cell tower at the park. The original agreement expired and now the company is looking to enter into a new contract.  

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St. 

The original license agreement provided an initial yearly payment of $18,000 with an annual increase.  

Due to market influences, Verizon has asked to renegotiate the terms of the license agreement, according to a memo by City Attorney Angela Jacobs. The new agreement would be for five years with an automatic extension for another term of five years, and the annual rent would be $26,644 for the first year and would increase annually by 12%.  

Under the new agreement, the city would receive about $11,000 less for the first five-year term. During the second five-year renewal period, the city would receive about $26,000 less. 

The Glacier Twins baseball team leases Memorial Park from the city. A memorandum of understanding provides that the funds from the cell tower be distributed to the Twins for maintenance of the stadium at Memorial Park.  

Also on the agenda is a request to annex 2 acres on Lund Lane into the city. Property owners Olivia Boyle and Danielle Hirshberg requested annexation of the parcel, which contains a single-family home and accessory buildings.  

Several lots to the north and west have been annexed into the city.  

During a work session at 6 p.m., Council is set to hear an update on the land use chapter of the city’s growth policy.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 406-758-4421 or [email protected].

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