The Mathews Broadband Advisory Board has secured a contract with Verizon to place cellular equipment on the county-owned tower at the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad building at Hudgins.

The contract will bring in $2,400 a month in revenue, said board chair Judy Rowe, or double the amount the county pays the rescue squad for use of the land on which the tower was erected. Details of the contract were discussed at the advisory board meeting on Tuesday morning.

Rowe said Verizon also intends to place equipment on the county-owned tower at Mathews Volunteer Fire Department’s Station 2 in Bohannon under a similar agreement.

Rowe has long promised the Mathews Board of Supervisors that the towers, completely paid for with grant funding under the American Rescue Plan Act, would eventually generate revenue that would cover the county’s contracts with the fire department and rescue squad.

“It’s a win-win situation for the fire department, the rescue squad, and the county,” she said....