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Council OKs staff authority to sign short-term Bluebird Fiber contract for Crestview tower
Summary
At a March 3 workshop, the council authorized staff to have a city employee sign a three-year contract with Bluebird Fiber to manage fiber service to Crestview Water Tower, after staff said a time-limited offer would preserve a lower monthly rate.
The Washington City Council on March 3 approved a motion authorizing staff to execute a short-term agreement with Bluebird Fiber for the fiber feed to the Crestview Water Tower so the city can manage the connection directly and preserve a quoted rate.
The action came after city staff described a time-sensitive offer from Bluebird. Kevin (staff member) told the council the vendor quoted $600 per month for city-managed service and that the city’s historic payment had been about $17.50 a month. He said Bluebird would hold the lower rate if the city signed a contract by March 15 and that the price would be fixed for three years under that agreement.
Kevin said the change would let the city contact Bluebird directly for outages and avoid delays caused by intermediaries. “We can take it over, but we need to sign a contract,” Kevin said. He asked the council to allow Darren (staff member) to sign the agreement now; he said he would return at the March 17 meeting with the ordinance and the full contract for formal approval.
Councilmember Jeff (Councilmember) asked what Bluebird’s role would be after the city took over management; Kevin answered that Bluebird would remain the fiber provider and the city’s NOC (network operations center) would handle the internal switching and day-to-day operations. Kevin also told the council the new Bluebird leadership had re-priced accounts and the deadline required quick action to secure the quoted rate.
A council member said, “So sounds like a no brainer to me. I’ll make a motion.” Another council member seconded. The mayor (presiding officer) announced the motion as “by Heydrich, second by Wessels.” The council voted by voice; the presiding officer called for those in favor to say “aye,” and the motion passed.
No ordinance or final contract language was approved at the workshop; staff said they would present the full contract and an ordinance at the March 17 council meeting for formal ratification. Kevin described the request at the workshop as an interim administrative step to secure a time-limited pricing offer.
Councilmembers did not discuss specific budget appropriation changes at the meeting beyond staff’s explanation that the monthly quote and historical payments differed; Kevin said he would provide the full contract and supporting information at the next council meeting.
Ending
Council action on March 3 authorized city staff to sign a time-limited contract offer with Bluebird Fiber to manage the Crestview Water Tower connection and directed staff to return with the ordinance and contract for final council approval at the next meeting.
