Michigan radio station WGHN has agreed to pay over $100,000 to the City of Grand Haven to finally put a tower site dispute that left the station off the air for months to rest. In November of last year, Grand Haven pulled the plug on WGHN for contract breaches, including failure to pay its bills.
According to Grand Haven City Manager, Ashley Latsch, WGHN, which had leased space for its transmitter on a city communication tower since 1984, had its transmissions terminated five months after being warned of these breaches. Latsch said that WGHN’s contract violations included placing additional antennae and cameras on the tower without consent and failing to ensure 75% of its programming was locally originated. There were also issues of unpaid utility bills and fines for failing to comply with the lease.
Station owner Will Tieman countered that city officials refused to meet him to address the issues, terming the city’s concerns as a “perceived violation” of the contract. WGHN moved to a new transmitter in late January.
MLive reports the settlement agreement, which has been approved by the city council, WGHN made a lump sum payment of $18,000 on Monday, July 10, with an additional sum of $84,539 due over the next five years.
