It’s mammoth, it’s metal and now, it’s part of the skyline in Seymour Lake Township Park.

Last week, Verizon Wireless erected a 195-foot cell tower (monopole) on a 2,475-square-foot piece of land located in the northwest corner of the park.

Now that it’s up, Oxford Twp. Parks/Rec. Director Ron Davis said people are undoubtedly going to “notice it” at first, but he believes eventually, it will fade into the background like any other piece of infrastructure.

“It’s just going to take time for everybody to get acclimated to it like you do (with) the light poles out there. The more you look at them, you really don’t notice them,” he said.

Like them or not, Davis said cell towers are a fact of modern life.

“Is it something that everybody wanted? No,” he said. “But nowadays, they’re everywhere. Everybody wants to have a cell phone, but no one wants to look at the tower.”

Approved by the township planning commission in 2016, the monopole is designed to fill the sizeable coverage gap that Verizon says exists in that area for its customers.

Under a license agreement approved in 2016, Verizon is paying the township $15,600 annually for the initial term of five years.

“Like I told some of the residents out there who were upset (about the tower), it could have went on someone else’s property, who would have (received) that money,” Davis said. “That wouldn’t have benefited the residents and you still would have had to look at it.”

Revenue from the agreement is going directly to the parks and recreation department, not into the township’s general fund.

“They’ve already cut us our check for the year (2018),” Davis said.

The agreement will automatically be extended for four additional five-year terms unless Verizon is in default or terminates it with proper notice. The annual license fee will increase by 5 percent per five-year term.

Verizon’s monopole is capable of supporting antennas from other wireless carriers.

However, each additional carrier is required to negotiate a separate agreement with the township.