Government Performance and Finance Committee - Regular Meeting

Whenever you're ready. Okay. Alright.

I'd like to call the order of the government performance and finance committee meeting of 08/19/2025.

Clerk, would

you please follow roll?

Vice chair Bushnell? Absent. Deputy mayor Daniels? Here. Council member Rumba? Here. And chair of Lynch?

Here. Alright. Moving on to public comment. Clerk, please read.

We request to speak for your public comment or items on the agenda. Please sign up in the front of the room if you've not done so already. If you're speaking virtually, please press the raise hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine on your phone. Your name and the last four digits of your phone number will be called out when it is your turn to speak.

Alright. Stark, has anyone signed up to speak virtually or in person? Neither. Okay. With that, we'll go ahead and close public comment, which will take us to our first and only briefing item, which is the level three communications LLC telecommunications franchise agreement. And I'd like to call Jeff Ledersch from the communications office.

Thank you, chair Hines and council members. My name is Jeff Leders. I'm the meeting communications office division manager of cable communications and franchise services. Before you today is a request for ordinance for renewal of a telecommunications franchise agreement between Level three Communications LLC, a subsidiary of Lumen and the city of Tacoma. Level three Communications has been a telecommunications provider in the city of Tacoma since 1999 under ordinance number two six four six five and ordinance number two eight two one four in 2014, which was a second ten year renewal.

This 49 page ten year telecommunications franchise renewal would allow level three communications to continue to operate in the city's right of way, utilizing their fiber network as long as they continue to comply with the insurance performance bond letter of credit and additional requirements as set forth in this agreement. See, you can go on to the next page. One note there, due to the Auburn case in 2001, we are not allowed to charge franchise fees for a telecommunications franchise. This is a list of services from their website that, they provide in the city

of Tacoma, and we can go to

the next page. Again, this, telecommunications franchise allows them to operate for ten more years in public right of way, and it protects and indemnifies the city. And it requires the necessary bonds, letter of credit, and insurance required by title 16 b and title code. And if approved to go to city council, first reading would be next Tuesday, August 26. Then there's the fifteen day public comment period for municipal code, and the final reading would be September 16.

Publication on September 19 with the effective date retroactive to 06/01/2024 when the last agreement expired. Staff recommends approval of the level three communications LLC telecommunications franchise agreement with the city of Tacoma and further request the government comments and finance committee forward decided to city council for consideration and approval. And before I stand for any questions, just to inform you of one change that has occurred during the last ten years. Level three was purchased by Lumen, which was formerly CenturyLink, which was formerly Quest, which I don't know what was before that. But, anyway and so now Lumen owns them, but it's, it's still gonna be may be maintained as level three communications.

Okay. So it doesn't change any of the overall. It's just the ownership is now working.

So level three communication will still be the franchisee.

Yep.

Gotcha. Alright. Any questions for That's Robot.

Thank you. And thank you so much for, the information.

Mhmm.

How many different telecommunications franchises are there?

About 14.

14. Okay. And then, are there rules on how many like, can, like, Lumen buy five of them and then that's okay? Or how does that work? Like, is there any rules on I'm sure there are federal level, but are there any rules locally about how we like, I don't know how much of it they own. Like, when they're tell if their telecommunications sits here, I have no idea of what percentage of our community is utilizing their their franchise.

Yeah.

Like, do we keep track of that? Do we have any information on that, or is that outside our scope?

No. It's it's, we don't keep track of that. I'm I'm trying to figure out if we could. The good news has always been the more providers you have, the better the options and the more competitive pricing. The hard part for me as as a franchise administrator and and with TPU is the more providers you have, the more fibers and such there are in the communications, in the above ground infrastructure, you know, on the poles.

So there's, like, there's this big bundle of cables where underground, you don't see it. You know? So so it gets to be a problem when there's a dump truck that leaves their thing up and tears through it. And now all of a sudden, permitting department is working with all these providers to try to get them notified that you know? And they're aware of it because they monitor their networks every day. So and they're gonna get calls from their customers. So but as far as a percentage of, like, who utilizes that in the community, yeah, I'd have to do some digging to find out

if we could get that.

I don't know.

I'm just curious because I was just thinking about, like, where I live, I only only get one I only have one choice.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Okay.

One choice. And so I just I'm curious because all these people have all these other choices, and which I obviously believe is really good because it's competition and prices are lower. But there are also other places, and I think council member Bushnell could talk to about this more than I could, where people have there's areas where there just really is kind of a desert for services. Mhmm. And I feel like my area is really, like, limited. And I'm certain there's other places in Northeast to come before that's true as well. But just curious how many there were and if we do track, if they start buying each other. So there ends up being sort of more of a monopoly. But

Well, there's two two things I'll share regarding that. One is there's a new provider that I'll be here at your next meeting if I can squeeze onto the agenda. Easy fiber out of Texas is coming in. They're building from Federal Way and from Lakewood. So they're gonna hit two portions of the city and then two portions of the city and then the final two portions of the city, is their plan at the moment.

Easy Fiber I mean so that'll be another new provider. Right behind them, there's another franchise that we're finishing negotiations on with the company out of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho called Fat Beam Fiber.

Great names, by the way.

Yes. And they've already they've already done some work with TPU. So they're set to come in, and they wanna build out the entire city as well. To your point about buying each other out, so AT and T just recently announced they bought Lumen.

So

then my question to Lumen was, well, why are we negotiating this franchise with you if, you know, you're gonna become AT and T? And they're like, no. Level three is our subsidiary, and they're gonna stay our subsidiary. Everything else in Tacoma is gonna be purchased by AT and T.

Okay.

I'm like, okay.

So but then when AT and T brought in that franchise application, they also brought in a franchise application for a company called SQF, which is wireless. So now anyway, I'm just saying there's a lot of things coming in the next few months, and I'm gonna be in front of you to

But your organizational chart on all this because I don't even know how you do that.

So thank you. My whiteboard is a

mess right now.

Thank you so much for sharing all that. That's really interesting. Thank you.

But it's a good point. I I will, look into that. And if I can find some data, I'll let

you know. Just like to know. Thank you.

Yep. K.

Vice Chair, Michelle, have any questions?

No. Thank you.

K. Deborah Daniels, any questions? Alright. Well, Jeff, thanks for the presentation. We'll look forward to more of these. And, again, as a reminder, brought up that there's no franchisees paid according to this Mhmm. Press on that. So they're just but they're they do pay full attachment fees. Correct? They're building their own pool.

Yeah. Yeah. So if people are or companies are doing underground, is there fees associated with that? If it's Permit fees. Yeah. Oh, yes. They all have to get permit fees and do the road.

Is there, like, a road you see or something like that?

They're they're they're utilizing our road.

You

know? Yeah. There's there's

a pole attachment fee, obviously. Yeah. The pole attachment fee is is negotiated with well, it's pretty well declared by the state how much the TPU can charge for being on their poles per year. But when they go to permitting, it just depends on if like, if it's underground boring versus hanging stuff on poles, I mean, it it there's a there's a difference in the fees, you know, because then it has to go through all the locating and all the, you know, mapping and everything. So, yeah, Larry Criswell is my contact there, they do all the stuff on that end.

So but to your point, there there is some money changing hands regarding but it's almost all for actual cost for services provided. So k. It's not like not like franchise fees for cable providers where they pay a fee on a gross revenue, you know, on their franchise and their pay fees. So little bits different. K.

Thank you. Yeah. Alright. With, no further questions, I'll entertain that motion. I move to forward the proposed telecommunications franchise agreement ordinance with Level three Communications LLC to the Political City Council for consideration. Second. Alright. Let's move to second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Suppose? Alright. The motion by doctor. Thank you, Jeff.

Thank you. See you next Tuesday. Okay.

That, we'll move on to yeah. Well, we'll have to squeeze you on. I guess, well, we're we're gonna be probably sixteenth, Jeff. We're canceling second.

So Oh, yeah. No. I meant the first reading of

Oh, yes. There you go.

Alright. Have a good day.

We'll now move on to topics for upcoming meetings. I'd like to call on Susan. Good

morning, chair Heinz. So September 2, GPFC meeting has been canceled. September 16 meeting, currently, we have a monthly up monthly budget update. Andy will come in and do an update. We also have an insurance one zero one with our risk manager, Luis, update. And then we are we have a pending item with a chair Hanson to check-in with the civil service board. That would be pending. Sounds good. Alright.

Are there any other areas of interest?

Right.

Councilor Romo? So the monthly budget update, that's gonna be, like, the update from the city. Right? Okay. And is it including the federal information as far as the monthly budget, or does it matter any information on that?

No. It won't have any information on that. It will have, like, the general fund and general fund supported funds. So just an overview of the general website.

Okay. At some point, would be really great to get an update on federal dollars and, like, where we were expecting to get federal dollars and we're not getting federal dollars.

So I can share that right now. We don't know where what dollars so we don't have a centralized grant management office within the city. It's all decentralized. Uh-huh.

Okay.

So we are trying to capture grants that are currently identified for. Okay. And trying to review the requirements there. We're also asking for information from the various departments of any grants that you've applied for as of the beginning of the year because

So we don't have a master.

We do not. With all of

the different grants that we're applying for? No. That would be a great thing to kinda do maybe.

We are working on that.

Yes. Yeah. Every grant office has something like that, so I appreciate you looking at that. Yes. Thank you.

You're welcome. Got got information I

needed today. That's helpful. Thank you. You're welcome.

Alright. Thank you so much. Any other questions? Alright. Seeing none, I'll entertain the final motion. Move to adjourn. Second. Please second. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Alright. Voices are adopted. We stand adjourned.

Thank you.