Edmonds staff asked Council Committee A on July 1 to put a proposed 20-year renewal of the city’s WSDOT fiber agreement on the consent agenda for next week’s full council meeting. The agreement would extend terms that date to a 2005 contract that brought the city’s first fiber into Edmonds and carries about 36 strands from Highway 99 to the ferry terminal.

The renewal request matters because the city uses roughly 60% of that fiber run for main internet access and to connect multiple municipal buildings, staff said. Under the proposed renewal, WSDOT would retain a right-of-way role for poles and hanging fiber, and the parties would continue on essentially the same terms for another 20 years unless one side terminates the agreement.

Staff explained the fiber originally went in after a Homeland Security grant to support cameras at the ferry terminal. A staff presenter said, “If the fiber is damaged, the city is responsible to repair it. Fiber doesn’t wear out but things can happen,” and noted past incidents on different segments have interrupted city connectivity. Committee members were told that a contractor bore-cut a separate Aurora segment around 2014, taking the city offline for about two days while the cable was replaced.

Committee members asked about maintenance costs and liability. Staff said there is no routine maintenance charge in the renewal but that the city would bear repair costs if the line is damaged — for example, if a vehicle hits a pole that supports the fiber. Staff also said portions of the route were placed underground where sidewalks were redone to reduce the chance of damage, and Edmonds coordinated with the City of Lynnwood to re-splice fibers when that work occurred.

The committee voiced no objection to placing the renewal on the next general consent calendar. One committee member said they had no further questions and supported placing the item on consent; another asked whether the renewal needed to come next week because the agreement had already expired and staff wanted it in place as soon as possible.

Next steps: staff requested placement of the renewal on the consent agenda for the next full council meeting; committee members indicated no objection.