Consideration and Approval of Contract Amendment: Amendment No. 1 to the Design-Build Services Contract with Wecom LLC (Contract No. 2024-125) — Fiber Network Project
 

On January 21, 2025, Council approved a Design-Build Services Contract with Wecom LLC (Contract No. 2024-125) for construction of a Fiber Network, under which the City agreed to pay Wecom up to $2,000,000. The City currently limits Wecom to five concurrent active permits at a time. Wecom has requested an increase to ten concurrent permits to accelerate the fiber build, but City staff does not have the capacity within current staffing levels to support the added permitting, inspection, and utility locating workload this would require.
Amendment No. 1 addresses this by:

• Increasing the concurrent active permit limit from five to ten for work in the public right-of-way, subject to Wecom maintaining effective damage-prevention and quality-control practices, and subject to the City's right to reduce or restrict permits for defined performance reasons (e.g., quality-control deficiencies, delayed restoration, or limited locating capacity).
• Authorizing the City to engage temporary staff, approve overtime, and/or contract with third parties (up to the equivalent of 4 full-time positions, including 2 utility locators) to perform the additional permitting, inspection, and locating work, for an anticipated engagement period of approximately two years beginning summer 2026.
• Capping the cost of this additional staffing at $720,000 unless a further amendment is approved, with Wecom pre-approving compensation rates and receiving monthly cost accountings.
• Reducing the $2,000,000 contract price owed to Wecom dollar-for-dollar by the City's actual staffing costs, with a final accounting due by June 30, 2028 (or earlier if Wecom exercises its option to end the additional-staffing arrangement).
• Preserving the City's sole discretion over hiring, management, and assignment of this additional staff, and confirming Wecom remains fully responsible for its existing permitting and construction obligations under the Contract.

This amendment is cost-neutral to the City. Staffing costs incurred to support the additional permit capacity (capped at $720,000) will be deducted directly from the $2,000,000 the City owes Wecom under the Contract, rather than funded separately. The City retains the right to reduce or discontinue this additional staffing at its discretion, including for budgetary reasons.

Council approved the original Design-Build Services Contract with Wecom LLC on January 21, 2025 (fully executed February 8, 2025).

1. Approve Amendment No. 1 as presented.
2. Approve with modifications (e.g., a different permit limit, staffing cost cap, or engagement period).
3. Deny the amendment and maintain the current five-permit limit, which would leave the pace of the fiber build constrained by existing City staff capacity.

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a