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ITEM 6
City Council Memorandum Development Services Memo No.
DS23-008
Date:
March 20, 2023
To:
Mayor and Council
Thru:
Joshua H. Wright, City Manager
Andy Bass, Deputy City Manager
Ryan Peters, Strategic Initiatives Director
Derek D. Horn, Development Services Director
Louis Kneip, Development Engineering Manager
From:
Dennis Aust, Telecommunications and Utility Franchise Manager
Subject:
Resolution No. 5668, authorizing a license agreement between Qwest Corporation dba CenturyLink QC, and the City of Chandler to allow for overlashing of existing aerial plant in the City’s Rights-of-Way.
Proposed Motion:
Move Council adopt Resolution No. 5668, authorizing the Mayor to execute the license agreement between Qwest Corporation, dba CenturyLink QC, and the City of Chandler to allow for overlashing of existing aerial plant in the City’s rights-of-way, and authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute other documents as needed to give effect to the agreement.
Background:
CenturyLink is currently planning a major upgrade to extend some of the services provided by its existing fiber optic telecommunications system. This upgrade will provide substantially faster internet access services to CenturyLink’s residential customers through fiber-to-the-home infrastructure. The construction of important segments of the upgrade could be achieved faster and significantly more economically if CenturyLink is granted authority to overlash on its existing aerial plant. Aerial plant is overhead cable strung from utility pole to utility pole or from a utility pole to a home or business. Overlashing is the process of attaching new fiber optic aerial cable where existing copper aerial cable exists.
CenturyLink is considered the lawful successor to the telecommunications corporation that was providing telephone service as the incumbent local exchange carrier pursuant to a grant made before the effective date of the Arizona Constitution. It therefore enjoys certain rights that other similar communications companies do not, such as an exemption under Arizona Revised Statute 9-582(E) to the requirement to obtain a license or franchise agreement. This type of agreement is required of all other telecommunications companies under Chapter 46 of Chandler City Code. CenturyLink, however, is not exempt from certain engineering and public safety requirements, such as the undergrounding provisions in Chapter 46 and Chapter 47 of Chandler City Code.
CenturyLink is seeking a waiver of the undergrounding requirements for the new aerial facilities and for permission to instead overlash on its aerial plant in the areas where they exist today. CenturyLink has stated that if the company cannot overlash certain areas of their existing strand-mounted overhead plant with the necessary microduct and cabling to carry out the upgrade, CenturyLink would not complete its deployment of fiber-to-the-home in those areas of Chandler.
The agreement provides terms for services and is similar to an agreement the City made with Cox Communications in 2015 which greatly cleaned up Cox’s existing aerial plant. The recommendations from the Council Subcommittee meeting held June 22, 2015, regarding the Cox overlashing agreement were also incorporated into this agreement to remain consistent and address concerns about the aesthetics of overhead facilities.
This item is for a five-year nonexclusive agreement. CenturyLink’s build plan for this agreement primarily focuses on building fiber-to-the-home infrastructure in older Chandler neighborhoods, areas more difficult to build in than others, and areas that may be passed over or built in much later by other fiber providers.
Financial Implications:
CenturyLink will pay all typical and required City permitting and inspection fees.
Attachments
Resolution No. 5668
Overlash Agreement
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