Wetumpka council approves Unitil Fiber franchise; Troy Cable item carried to next meeting

The presiding official of the Wetumpka City Council voted to approve Ordinance 2025-8, granting Unitil Fiber Gulf Company LLC a nonexclusive franchise to place fiber in city rights-of-way.

The council also took up Ordinance 2025-9, a proposed nonexclusive franchise for an entity listed on the agenda as "Troy Cable Disney." That item was introduced for the first time and was carried over to the next council meeting for further consideration.

Why it matters: franchise agreements authorize private companies to use municipal rights-of-way for telecommunications infrastructure and typically include terms on placement, maintenance and franchise fees.

Council discussion and votes: Ordinance 2025-8 appeared as the item in old business and was on its second reading. The council moved, seconded and recorded voice votes of aye to approve the Unitil Fiber franchise; the council then moved Ordinance 2025-9 to the next meeting without substantive debate recorded in the transcript.

Details recorded in the meeting: the agenda text noted that Unitil intends to bury fiber in the city right-of-way and would pay the city (transcript: "They're wanting to bury in our right way so they have to pay us"). The item for "Troy Cable Disney" was explicitly described as a first-time agenda item and was carried forward for a future meeting; no additional terms were provided in the record.

No ordinances referenced other than the agenda numbers were read into the record, and no statutory citations were provided during the discussion.

Next steps: Ordinance 2025-9 will return on a future agenda for further consideration; the Unitil franchise was approved at this meeting.