Hastings Mayor Frank Campbell Monday said the City Council would do what was best for its citizens when dealing with Level 3, a giant communications company, and that included evicting the company when no agreement was reached on lease payments.

Level 3 built a small building with electronic repeating equipment on city property near Railroad Street, and entered a lease agreement with the city in 1986, for two terms of 15 years each, until 2016, for $555.53 a year that would expire in September.

Level 3 is being evicted and have asked for an additional 30 days to move their building and equipment. The city council approved the request. A strong critic of the company’s offer for a lease, Campbell recommended the extension, “even if the company was not communicating us.”

With the renewal coming up, Level 3 asked for the same terms. In January, Campbell opposed the offer, saying the city would get a “substantial amount of money, or we will remove the building.” The council agreed that the space was worth much more than $555.53 a year, when other communication companies like Sprint are paying the city up to $2,000 a month, and in June, asked city staff to negotiate a new, higher agreement.

The company’s last offer was for a ten-year lease beginning Oct. 1 with payments of $740 a year, a 37 percent increase of $555.53 annually, with two five year options to renew the lease.

With no agreement in sight, city Attorney Stephanie Fekkes informed the company that its lease expired in September, and they would be evicted.  Fekkes said Level 3 expects to pay any rent due and costs associated with the termination and removal. //

Level 3 Communications is a premier global communications company providing communications service to enterprise, government and carrier customers with extensive fiber networks on three continents with undersea facilities to more than 500 markets in more than 60 countries, according to its website.