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Council reviews franchise agreements with Rocky Mountain Power and Comcast; votes recorded, later discussion to table further action
Summary
The council considered franchise agreements with Rocky Mountain Power and Comcast that set terms for utility work in city rights-of-way; the ordinances were put forward and a roll-call vote recorded, and later the council agreed to table further related follow-up because two council members were absent.
Perry City Council considered franchise agreements allowing Rocky Mountain Power and Comcast to operate in city rights-of-way and setting expectations for deployment, permitting and relocation responsibilities.
City staff said the franchise agreements establish permitting and excavation standards, notice practices and, in Comcast’s case, a franchise-fee arrangement. City attorney Bill Morris told the council he had negotiated terms with the utilities; he asked the mayor to be authorized to finalize minor final edits that sometimes occur in late-stage negotiations to avoid having the measures returned to council for purely clerical changes.
Council members asked about notice to residents for outages and for utility-led work. Staff said routine outage notifications are managed by the utilities; for work in the right-of-way, franchise terms require excavation permits and preconstruction coordination so the city and developer know the scope. Council members noted past delays when utilities were slow to relocate poles or lines during city projects and said the new agreements are intended to give the city stronger leverage, though staff cautioned utilities’ scheduling and workforce availability can still create multi-month waits for relocations.
A motion to approve ordinances adopting franchise agreements (Ordinance 25S, Rocky Mountain Power; Ordinance 25T, Comcast) received a roll-call vote in which Council member Walker, Council member Wright and Council member Toor were recorded as voting yes. Later in the meeting the mayor noted two council members were absent and council members agreed to table further related discussion; staff and attorney comments suggested the mayor be given authority to finalize minor edits where needed so the city would not face unnecessary delays in execution.
Staff said the agreements require utilities to obtain excavation permits for right-of-way work, to coordinate with the city on preconstruction notices and (in Comcast’s case) to remit franchise fees; the agreements also create a clearer framework for holding utilities responsible for relocating facilities when a city project requires it.
