Saint Andrew’s Net | December 2005 | Vol. XX No. 10 | Page 1

By CAROLYN YBARRA, Bishop’s Warden

Many people may not realize that under the cross on the roof of Saint Andrew’s there is a cell phone antenna. The antenna was first installed about ten years ago. A few years later, the cellphone company that owned the antenna at the time, PacBell Wireless (later to become Cingular), also replaced the roof on our church. Because we are a mission church, the diocese had to approve the antenna lease.
Over the years, Saint Andrew’s has benefited from this lease. Part of the proceeds were used to pay down one of our loans to the diocese, while the remainder, $700 per month, went to the general fund. In addition, separate money compensated for the electricity used by the antenna.

Recently, this lease was sold along with several other antenna leases owned by the diocese, to a holding company. Saint Andrew’s will receive a lump sum of $113,000 for the antenna. Currently, we have two outstanding loans to the diocese: one in the amount of $78,281, and the other for $103,500. The sale of this antenna lease will enable us to pay off the larger of the two loans. We will also be able to designate about $8,000 for next year’s budget, to help make up for the loss of the monthly $700.

The advantage of this sale is that we are guaranteed the money to pay off the loan. The structure of the lease required its renewal in another four years. In the meantime, T-Mobile—the company that now owns the antenna following the divestiture of Cingular’s transmitters after its purchase of AT&T Wireless—could decide they no longer need the antenna and not be obligated to pay anything more to the church. Eliminating that risk was a decision that the diocese chose to make.

Russ Hedman will be glad to answer any questions you may have regarding this article. Please feel free to chat with him after church or call him at home in the evenings at 949.559.6333, or e-mail any questions you may have to rlhedman@yahoo.com.