Shellharbour City Council is locked in a dispute with Telstra and Vodaphone over the lease of land for mobile phone towers and other equipment in Shellharbour, Flinders and Dunmore.
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According to a report to councillors, estate agents representing both companies have argued that the council is trying to change too much and say they should pay up to half the rent proposed by the council's independent valuers.
For instance, the council has proposed annual rent of $36,722 for a Vodaphone mobile phone tower and equipment box at Buckley's Road, Dunmore.
However, representatives Colliers International advised that this was "not acceptable" and instead proposed an annual rent of just $15,000.
At Ron Costello Oval in Shellharbour, the council proposed that Vodaphone should pay $20,836, while Colliers proposed annual rent of $15,000.
Likewise, Telstra representatives JLL Leasing have proposed a rent of $15,000 for the land for their facility at Ron Costello oval.
The council said Colliers' submission had been reviewed by the consultant valuer, Opteon, but that "the submission did not persuade the Opteon valuer to a different point of view".
With neither party willing to budge, the decision on how much to charge has now been left in the hands of Shellharbour councillors, who will debate the matter on Tuesday night.
Council staff have recommended councillors push ahead with the original proposed rents, which - if accepted - will bring in just under $100,000 in total.
However, council staff have flagged that failure to come to an agreement on the rent could result in the city receiving no income from the lease of the land.
"In the most recent communication from Colliers dated 17 June 2020, Colliers advised Council that Colliers intended to advise Vodafone that if there is no agreement on rent, mediation will be sought in relation to the Dunmore site and that Vodafone should rely on their statutory rights [under the Telecommunications Act] in relation to the sites at Flinders and Shellharbour and pay no fee at all," the report to councillors said.