Spokane Valley council approves 10-year FatBeam telecommunications franchise
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Summary
The Spokane Valley City Council approved Ordinance No. 25-012 on second reading to grant FatBeam a nonexclusive, 10-year franchise to place telecommunications facilities, including fiber, in city rights-of-way. Residents raised health and tower concerns; staff said the franchise primarily covers fiber and must comply with federal and local rules.
The Spokane Valley City Council on Aug. 12 approved Ordinance No. 25-012 granting a nonexclusive, 10-year telecommunications franchise to FatBeam to install, operate and maintain telecommunications facilities — including fiber — in public rights-of-way.
Council approval came at the ordinance's second reading after staff summarized the proposal and members of the public asked questions about what the franchise would allow and whether it implicated wireless towers or frequency emissions.
The ordinance renews a franchise that staff said previously ran for 10 years and is set to expire in August. "FatBeam currently has a franchise to install, own, maintain, and operate telecommunication facilities, including fiber throughout the city's rights of way," a staff presenter summarized during the council discussion. The ordinance updates some terms "to reflect changes in law during that 10 year timeframe," the presenter said, while otherwise keeping the same scope and length of term.
During public comment, Spokane Valley resident John Harding asked whether the franchise covered cell towers or only fiber infrastructure. "Are these are we talking about our communication cell towers citywide?" Harding asked. Several residents raised concerns about potential health effects from wireless frequencies; one resident urged the council to "look into this a little bit further before a decision is made." Another resident, Joseph Godsey, disputed those claims, calling the health-hazard assertions unfounded: "these frequencies are non ionizing radiation, which means that they'd have no potential harm." A different attendee clarified FatBeam's business model: "Fat beam is a fiber optic provider. They do not operate towers," the commenter said, adding that the company leases fiber and bandwidth to customers.
Councilmembers pressed staff for detail about whether the franchise could be used for wireless towers in the future. The presenter said telecommunication franchises can cover the use of rights-of-way for a variety of telecommunications facilities and "certainly could include communication towers" if a franchisee entered that business. Deputy City Manager Eric Lamb added that any wireless facilities would have to comply with applicable Federal Communications Commission rules and other federal requirements and municipal code standards: "...they would be required to meet the federal requirements there," he said.
A motion to adopt the ordinance passed on the council floor. No roll-call breakdown was recorded in the meeting transcript.
The franchise authorizes FatBeam to place fiber and other telecommunications infrastructure in city rights-of-way under the terms of the ordinance; staff noted some contract language was updated to reflect legal changes since the prior franchise. The council did not attach additional conditions to the franchise during the meeting.
Implementation details including the franchise's effective date and any required permits or construction timing were not specified during the discussion. Staff said they would answer additional questions about the franchise terms if councilmembers or members of the public requested further review.
