[TowerTalk] Stadiums as Tower/Contest Locations

[Pat Barthelow]

I have observed the development process, and know some folks who are 
"players".  What I observed, is that because there are often  Billions of 
dollars on the table,  by various stakeholders, that there is a lot of 
negotiating that goes on in the nitty gritty stages of pushing a major 
project through.

Lots of:
If the developer wants approval of this 2 billion dollar development, then 
he must contribute to the new high school that must be bult, the new freeway 
overpass that needs construction, the upgrade to sewage treatment plant.  He 
says to city/county, I can assist with the new high school,  but only X 
percent.  If the county offers Y percent help on the freeway overpass, I 
will up my offer to X plus 30 percent.  County says, if you build an 
Assisted living home complex, at a county owned site across town, we will 
reduce your expense at the high school by z percent.....  yada yada yada....

And so, the negotiations go... scratch my back, and I will, yours....with 
big money at stake, and available, good negotiating skills can land unusual 
deals for entities of low political or financial throw weight.   There have 
been a number of spectacular videos of "Old" stadiums being brought down in 
recent years in favor of new designs that can generate more revenue.   So if 
ham radio could somehow develop a "voice" and presence at the right time and 
place, or have high level officaials sympathetic to their cause, and consder 
them to be valuable community assets, they could benefit from being included 
early on in the new community/development plannng process.

Perhaps some approaches to National Organzations of City Planners, Or some 
of the Mega Scale Home builders that do home building all around the 
country, could pay off.

Once KB homes  (for example) succeeds somewhere in leveraging their 
assistance and support of building a community ham staiton at the baseball 
park, or new Stadium, with a $$ investment "in the noise level"  of monies 
involved, and believes that was the extra touch that results in sealing a 2 
billion dollar deal, they can incorporate that nationallly into their well 
rehearsed presentation model for new developments.

Perhaps the ARRL could put together a task force to look into the community 
planning process, approaching assiociations involved, at the National Level 
and nudge their thinking to consider a ham radio communications 
station/emergency operations center/Boys/Girsl Club/Cointest Club Station/ 
as a bargaining chip in all the negotiation process in new development, 
inlcuding building new stadiums.
There may be tax angle advantages to developers who allocate and leverage  
resources to such a community asset.

Sincerely, Pat Barthelow     aa6eg at hotmail.com
http://www.jamesburgdish.org
Jamesburg Earth Station  Moon Bounce Team
http://www.cq-vhf.com

>From: "David Jordan" <wa3gin at comcast.net>
>To: <n8de at thepoint.net>, "'Pat Barthelow'" <aa6eg at hotmail.com>
>CC: towertalk at contesting.com
>Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Stadiums as Tower/Contest Locations
>Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 16:12:08 -0400
>
>...if folks want to use city or county facilities one path to use of the
>facilities is to be recognized as a contributor to the jurisdiction, i.e.
>helping with public safety exercises, parade or race auxiliary
>communications, become affiliated with RACES or ARES where the ham 
>community
>has a tangible interface with a local government official who can sponsor
>such requests.
>
>I'm sort of surprised the school board imposed a "fee" ...
>
>Have Fun,
>Dave
>WA3GIN
>Arlington County, VA RACES Officer
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
>[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of n8de at thepoint.net
>Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 3:17 PM
>To: Pat Barthelow
>Cc: towertalk at contesting.com
>Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Stadiums as Tower/Contest Locations
>
>As a professional educator and coach, I looked into that when I was
>employed at a school that had four beautifully placed pair of light
>towers on a football field that ran from NE to SW .. ideal for a 4-el
>80m wire beam on Europe!