(A) The county may hire any consultant and/or expert necessary to assist the county in reviewing and evaluating the application, including the construction and modification of the site, once permitted, and any site inspections.
(B) To prevent the taxpayers from having to bear the cost related to the issue of the regulation of wireless telecommunications facilities, an applicant shall pay to the county a consultant fee based on the fixed hourly rate and the amount to be set forth in the county’s fee schedule. The amount of the fee shall be based on what has been usual and customary in the county for the review and permitting assistance related to wireless telecommunications towers and facilities and shall be based upon the anticipated time customarily required for the review of similar applications to cover all reasonable costs of consultant and expert evaluation and consultation with the county in connection with the submittal, review and permitting of any application, and where applicable, any lease negotiation, pre-approval evaluation and including any construction and modification of the site, once permitted. The placement of the initial consultant fee with the county shall precede the pre-application meeting or any work being done as regards to processing an application. The county will maintain accounting for the expenditure of all such funds. The county’s consultants/experts shall invoice the county for all time expended for its services in reviewing the application, including the construction and modification of the site, once permitted. If at any time during the process this consultant fee has a balance of less than one-fourth of the initial consultant fee due to an incomplete application, incorrect information contained in the application or non-compliance with the requirements of this section, the applicant shall immediately, upon notification by the county, provide a consultant fee equivalent to one-half of the initial consultant fee. Such additional funds shall be deposited with the county before any further action or consideration is taken on the application. In the event that the amount paid to the county is more than the amount of the actual invoicing at the conclusion of the project, the remaining balance shall be promptly refunded to the applicant subsequent to the issuance of a certificate of completion, unless the application is abandoned or withdrawn, in which case there shall be no refund.
(C) There shall be four categories of consultant fees, such being lease negotiations fee, application assistance and review fee, application amendment fee and public hearing fee. Said fees shall be set forth in the county’s published schedule of fees and may be adjusted from time to time by the Board of Commissioners.
(D) The fixed fee shall be based on the hourly rate of the consultant, which may be adjusted from time to time, multiplied by the number of hours that have been usual and customary in the county for similar applications for wireless telecommunications structures and facilities, which number of hours may also be adjusted from time to time based on experience. The total amount of the funds needed as set forth in division (C) of this section may vary with the scope of what is requested (such as, lease negotiations in addition to any application review) and the complexity of the project, the completeness of the application and other information as may be needed to complete the necessary review, analysis and inspection of any construction or modification.
(E) Records of all outside costs associated with the review and permitting process shall be maintained and available for public inspection, in compliance with applicable state law.
(Ord. O-2007-30IN, passed 12-4-2007)