The Manlius Village Board voted unanimously to send AT&T a message.

Village Attorney Jeff Brown said AT&T sent the village a letter in July saying that the company planned to renew its rental fee for usage of the Manlius’ cell phone tower, located behind the police department in the village.

Two weeks later, AT&T called the village to say that they would like to renew the contract at a much lower price.

“Their second proposal would substantially reduce our position,” Brown said at the Aug. 28 meeting. Terms of the second offer were not publicly disclosed.

AT&T currently pays the lowest rental fees of the five major telephone companies that use the tower.

The contract with AT&T has been in place since September 1992, and is up for renewal every three years. Terms state that the contract will automatically be renewed as of Oct. 1 if there are no amendments or revisions made to the contract from either side.

Brown said that the cell phone tower in the village is one of the only towers in the area.

Village Trustee Eric Krouse made a motion for a counter offer set at $15,000, which is the median rental fee for the other area providers. Krouse noted that AT&T currently enjoys the lowest rental fees of all phone companies with which the village contracts.

The motion passed unanimously.

Trustee recommends shorter meetings

Krouse recommended early in Tuesday night’s meeting that he’d like to see village meetings run a bit more efficiently, citing that the previous meeting went on until midnight following a lengthy presentation and an executive session.

“I think other trustees will agree with me when I say that these late meetings have a negative impact on my day job,” Krouse said. “I think we should shoot to be done, at least with the public part of the meetings, by 9 p.m.”

Mayor Rick Penhall agreed.

“I think it’s important that everyone expresses their opinions, but it needs to be within reason,” Penhall said.

What phone companies currently pay the village per contract for cell phone tower usage:

Nextel – $23,000

T-Mobile – $18,000

Clear Wire – $15,000

Verizon – $9,700

AT&T – $8,300

In other news:

A zoning change was proposed for 382 acres of property at 604 E Seneca St. The property is currently zoned industrial, but an application submitted wants to change the zoning to residential. The plan calls for 13 2,000-square-foot single-family homes in the $350,000 price range. The board voted unanimously to pass the resolution on to the planning board.

A state aid grant given to the village was waived and granted to the town police department. The grant will be used for a youth offender program.

A $50,000 Community Development Grant was given to the Senior Centre for a new handicapped bathroom and an exercise room.