T-Mobile customers soon may recognize an improvement in their cell phone reception, and the city of DeKalb may pocket $1,400 a month if new cell phone antennae are erected.

T-Mobile is working with the city to put antennae on the Dresser Road water tower. T-Mobile plans to have them up and on the air by May or June, T-Mobile representative Laura Altschul said.

A lease agreement with the company could bring in about $1,400 a month for the city, said Ray Keller, a DeKalb city planner. The city is trying to include a 3 percent annual raise in rent.

The DeKalb City Council would decide later what the money would go toward, Keller said.

T-Mobile wants to put up the antennae to increase reception quality for their customers and to offer Enhanced 911 service by next year, Altschul said.

The E911 service would display the location of cellular phone customers to within a few feet when making emergency calls.

Originally, T-Mobile applied for a special-use permit to build a tower near Campus Cinemas, 1015 Blackhawk Road, but the plan commission told the company it preferred the company put antennae on an existing structure, said Rich Fassig, chair of the plan commission.

Using the water tower is a better option for both sides because there will not be an unsightly cell tower, and T-Mobile will not have to construct a new tower, Fassig said.

T-Mobile went to the DeKalb City Council for approval on a consideration of the water tower option, and the council passed a preliminary agreement with T-Mobile at its Feb. 9 meeting.

It may take two weeks to six months to reach a final agreement, said Russ Farnum, principal planner for the city.

The major details have been worked out, and hammering out the final details likely only will take a month or two. T-Mobile is hoping to have an agreement before then, Altschul said.

Discussions may revolve around access to the water tower.

“Just given the heightened security sensitivity we all face now, our staff is very concerned about allowing access to a water facility,” Keller said. “So, we are working with our staff to make sure that there are precautions in place to make sure that use by T-Mobile does not interfere with the use of the water tower and vice versa.”

One solution may be to place equipment in a fenced-in area near the water tower instead of on top of it, Keller said.

This would allow T-Mobile access to the equipment, but restrict access to the antennae so that a city staff member will have to accompany T-Mobile personnel to the top of the tank.

This kind of agreement should not pose a problem for T-Mobile, Altschul said, because the company has sites on water towers around the country, and many have a similar arrangement.