AT&T wants to expand cell phone and internet in West Marin: earlier this month, the company approached the Inverness Public Utility District about installing a tower near a water tank on property the district owns on Vision Road. In a letter to the district dated Feb. 15, AT&T, through consultant Complete Wireless Consulting, said it would be willing to pay $14,904 annually to lease up to 500 square feet for the tower and antennas, as well as another 600 square feet for radio equipment and a backup generator. The district would not be responsible for any costs related to the facility, according to the proposal, which Ken Eichstaedt, IPUD’s general manager, presented at last week’s board meeting. Yet the placement of the issue itself on the agenda—folded into the general manager’s report, as opposed to being listed as a separate item—was questioned by Inverness resident and former district general manager Scott McMorrow, who was present at the meeting. Mr. Eichstaedt explained that the issue was not intended for full discussion, but instead as a brief informational item, as AT&T had only just approached the district. The proposal will be on the agenda for a board discussion at the March meeting. Mr. Eichstaedt emphasized that IPUD has not yet taken a position on the proposal, but he said the facility could offer two main advantages: more reliable communications and a small but steady income stream. “From an emergency standpoint…we ought to have a discussion on having a cell phone tower. If people don’t want it, okay. But we are isolated,” he said at the meeting. In a followup discussion, he added, “There are so many dead spots, and communication is important to public safety,” particularly for a special district that provides critical services like fire protection. He acknowledged that a cell tower can be “a lightning rod” of an issue, but also noted that the site is not close to homes. Were the district to grant permission, AT&T would need to obtain a county permit for the facility. A spokesman for AT&T, Benjamin Golombek, said in an email that the preliminary proposal was part of the second phase of a Federal Communications Commission program that AT&T is participating in, called the Connect America Fund. The program “will help to bring faster internet to more rural areas here in California and around the country,” he wrote. “Our goal is to provide the fastest, most reliable and most affordable service to all of our customers and this could help to bring faster internet to West Marin County.”