El Mirage council approves right-of-way agreement for Summit Infrastructure fiber

The El Mirage City Council on Tuesday approved a wired telecommunications license and right-of-way use agreement with Summit Infrastructure Group, allowing the company to install, operate, maintain and repair fiber optic cable in city rights-of-way.

The measure, introduced at the March 18 meeting, passed on a voice vote after a brief presentation by company representatives. The motion to approve the agreement was made by Vice Mayor Parsons and seconded by Council Member Dorsey. The council recorded unanimous approval of the item.

The agreement authorizes Summit Infrastructure Group to construct and operate telecommunications infrastructure along proposed routes that include Peoria Avenue from Dysart Road to El Mirage Road and portions of El Mirage Road to Northern Parkway. Jason Kaufman (introduced in the packet as vice president of business development) and a Summit representative later introduced themselves to the council and described the company's plan to build a network that can serve enterprises, schools and commercial customers across the valley.

"We're looking to own, operate, and maintain telecommunications infrastructure that will be used by a variety of different entities," one Summit representative said during the presentation. Council members asked for clarification about routes and potential customers; a Summit representative said the next step is civil engineering to finalize exact placement and that the company is customer-agnostic and will provide services to any paying customer.

Council Member Norton McDaniel asked whether the Peoria Avenue route was correct; Summit confirmed Peoria was one of the proposed corridors and said exact pole/side-of-road placement had not yet been determined. No council member requested removing the item from the agenda for additional study.

The approved agreement is a city-level license and right-of-way use contract; the packet materials included exhibits describing proposed routes but did not specify construction timing or consumer pricing. The city and Summit will move forward with engineering and permitting required before construction can begin.

Votes at the meeting were taken by voice; the council declared the item approved. The council has not set an implementation date in the meeting record and did not specify any financial terms or franchise fees in the public discussion.

The approval follows a short public-comment period earlier in the meeting and came near the end of a roughly 23-minute session that also approved consent items and heard several mayoral updates.