Addison Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson often refers to a cell tower located outside the township hall at 1440 Rochester Rd. as “a goose that lays golden eggs.”

A recent renegotiation with the tower’s operator, American Tower Asset Sub LLC, has provided township officials with extra revenue from that “goose” which could be used to purchase a splash pad for local kids.

Addison Township’s board voted 5-1 to enter into an extended lease agreement with American Tower Asset Sub LLC at a Feb. 12 meeting.

The new lease agreement comes with a $35,000 signing bonus for the township, which officials voted to earmark towards the potential purchase of a splash pad.

A splash pad, or spray pool, is a recreation area for water play that has little or no standing water.

Treasurer Lori Fisher, who said she thought the township should consider using the money towards something which would appeal to a larger range of ages, was the lone opposing vote.

The township’s original lease agreement with American Tower was drawn in August of 1997 and was set to extend through 2027.

According to Pearson, the amendment to the agreement was initiated by American Tower, which had requested that the township extend its existing lease, as longer leases are typically considered more attractive to network service providers interested in colocation.

Colocation is when one tower is used to mount mobile telecommunications antennas belonging to more than one wireless service provider within a single location.

The amendment extended American Tower’s previous lease for six additional five-year terms, through 2057.

No changes were made to the terms of the contract other than the extension of the leasing term.

According to Fisher, total revenue collected from this tower is expected to be over $72,000 in the current fiscal year.

Pearson said he would like to see the $35,000 in extra revenue go towards a splash pad which would be placed in the small park located kitty-corner from Addison Township Hall.

Currently, only a swing set is located within the small park.

He added that he has spoken with several residents who have offered to help install a potential splash pad, which would greatly reduce the cost of labor to the township.

“Everything that we negotiate is for the people of Addison Township,” Pearson told this reporter in a later interview. “I think we need to be giving whatever benefits the township gets back to use for the people. We’re trying to make (the township hall) a nice area for our residents. We have the baseball field, we have a sledding hill. . . the swingsets… We don’t have a public beach and we don’t have a place for the kids to go during the summertime… I think it would be a great thing to take that money and give it back to the people for their enjoyment and include it in that little park that we have there.”

Pearson said he will begin moving forward on the project in the near future.

If he is unable to secure the donations needed to install a splash pad, he said the board will renegotiate how it would like to spend the bonus money.

“I wanted to get the go-ahead (from the board) to see if I can start to arrange it and wanted to know whether I’d know I have the money to buy the equipment. If I can do it economically then I think that will come to pass,” Pearson added.