Votes at a glance: Norwalk committee approves fiber-optic, sidewalk, traffic-engineering agreements and Ely Avenue mural

At its Oct. 9 special meeting the Norwalk Economic & Community Development Committee voted unanimously on four formal items, summarized below.

1) Fiber-optic emergency and maintenance services (approved) Motion: Authorize the mayor to execute an agreement with Fiber Optic Plus LLC to provide city fiber-optic cable emergency and maintenance services for an amount of $50,000. Mover: Council member Freire. Key details: Traffic division staff said the city’s traffic network now uses roughly 10 miles of fiber and connects multiple city facilities (five fire stations, libraries, police, traffic operations). IT and the Transportation, Mobility & Parking (TMP) team worked on the network; the requested $50,000 is for on-call emergency response and maintenance. Vote: unanimous.

2) Colina Concrete — Rowayton sidewalk (approved) Motion: Authorize the mayor to execute an order on the contract with Colina Concrete for the Rowayton sidewalk project for a sum not to exceed $40,481. Mover: Council member Fryer. Key details: The order covers a contingency and related costs (traffic/police control) to finish sidewalks from the train station north toward Devil’s Garden; staff noted the additional line item was omitted in a prior agenda and this item adds it so the contractor may finish work before year end. Vote: unanimous.

3) Master agreement for on-call traffic-engineering services (approved) Motion: Authorize the mayor to execute master agreements for on-call traffic-engineering services with multiple firms for approximately $100,000 annually per firm. Mover: Council member Smith (motion moved during discussion and presented by TMP staff). Key details: The city established prequalified firms to expedite task-order work for traffic planning, signal and roadway design and reviews. Firms named in the meeting materials include AKRF Inc.; Creighton-Manning Engineering & Surveying, PLLC; IMEG (formerly FHI Studio); Fuss & O’Neill; Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.; M&J Engineering; Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB); and Weston & Sampson. Staff described a “mini-RFP” task-order process to assign projects competitively among prequalified firms. The $100,000 figure is an estimate per firm; larger projects still require separate approval/purchase orders when they exceed council thresholds. Vote: unanimous.

4) Ely Avenue fencing mural — Jermaine West contract (approved) Motion: Authorize the mayor to execute a contract with Jermaine West for the Ely Avenue fencing mural in an amount not to exceed $70,000 (MLK grant account). Mover: Council member Cade. Key details: The item followed an extended public-participation period in which residents pressed for transparency about the Arts & Cultural Commission’s selection process and whether AI-detection software was used to screen submissions. Staff explained the RFQ/RFP flow and said the $70,000 cap includes about $20,000 in materials and roughly $50,000 for artist stipend and community engagement. Vote: unanimous.

Context and procedure notes: staff and TMP presenters explained that purchase orders above the council threshold (generally $100,000) return to the council for approval; the on-call master agreements are intended to streamline smaller task orders while still requiring council review for larger single procurements. The committee asked staff to provide commission records and consider clearer policy language about AI use in artist solicitations.

Ending: All four items passed unanimously at the committee meeting on Oct. 9; the committee asked for follow-up documentation and directed staff to work with the Arts & Cultural Commission and TMP to tighten procedures where needed.