Westfield board approves $2.09 million BOT agreement to build city fiber ring after public hearing

The Westfield Board of Public Works and Safety on April 23 approved a three-year, interest-free build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement to build a city-owned fiber ring to connect municipal buildings and emergency facilities, after a public hearing and extended discussion about price, timeline and procurement.

Christopher Larson, director of informatics for the City of Westfield, told the board the project is “roughly 20 miles of 144 strands of fiber” and described the BOT payment arrangement as “we're in a payment agreement, through this BOT to pay the 2.9, sorry, dollars 2,090,000.00,” covering fiber and specialized switching equipment the city needs to replace aging ring hardware.

The project was presented to the board by Larson and a vendor representative, Corey Chiles of Berrycom. Larson said the fiber ring would connect city buildings, enable shared camera networks, door access, Wi-Fi and higher-capacity services, and give the city flexibility to manage or procure services after the infrastructure is built.

Deputy Mayor Daniel Carey Tolan and board members raised concerns over the single respondent to the city’s BOT request for proposals and whether the city had obtained a competitive price. Tolan summarized local comparisons and said similar nearby projects had seen single respondents because the market is specialized; he noted a Newton County project that used a similar mechanism. Larson and vendor representatives said equipment lead times and the need to keep construction on schedule for new fire stations weighed against prolonged delays.

Rob Gaylor of the Westfield Fire Department offered public comment during the hearing, saying the proposal “makes financial sense in my head” but also warned that delaying approval “puts, Station 4 and Station 5 at risk for opening.”

Board members discussed options including tabling the item for further review, reissuing an RFP, or holding a special meeting to answer outstanding procurement and budget questions. Larson said the city has $500,000 budgeted in the informatics line item for 2025 and would include further payments in the general fund budget over the next two years; he described the payment schedule as $500,000 in 2025, $1,000,000 in 2026 and the remaining balance in 2027. He also warned that equipment lead times (he and the vendor cited multi-month delays for specialized switches) and permitting schedules mean delaying approval could affect station activation timelines.

After discussion, a motion to approve the BOT agreement carried on a voice vote. The board did not record an itemized roll-call tally in the meeting minutes; the motion passed by voice vote with no recorded nays or abstentions.

The board’s action completes a final step the presenters said follows earlier City Council budget approval for the project; Larson said the council already included the project in the city budget. The vendor will proceed with engineering and permitting; the presenters said they planned staged work to prioritize connectivity to the most critical sites first, with a target to complete the overall build by October–November if schedules hold.

Why it matters: City-owned fiber can reduce recurring vendor dependency, support public-safety systems (cameras, door access and station connectivity) and provide capacity for future smart-city applications. Board members asked the administration to document competitive-solicitation history and provide follow-up on procurement comparisons and schedule risks.