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Board weighs fee reduction for large AT&T excavation amid Commercial Street project
Summary
Public-works staff said a co-location project for AT&T required an extensive street cut that under current fees would trigger a $156,000 excavation charge; staff proposed a scaled square-foot fee that would lower that project—s charge to about $39,000 and will return with an amendment to the fee schedule if the board directs.
Public-works staff told the Smithville Board of Aldermen that a large right-of-way excavation tied to an AT&T co-location project on Commercial Street would have generated an excavation fee of about $156,000 under the city—s current schedule. The project contractor and franchise utility are providing easements and paying for installation work, and staff said the contractor has been repairing the street to a high standard as work progresses.
Because the standard fee was disproportionately large for the scope and the franchise user was performing high-quality restoration, staff proposed temporarily lowering the per-square-foot excavation fee for projects larger than 1,000 square feet from $20/sqft to $5/sqft, which would produce a fee of about $39,000 for this specific project. "If the board doesn't wanna change the fee, they owe us a $156,000," Speaker 2 said, explaining the contractor proceeded with work to avoid project delays.
Board members expressed that the AT&T project appears to be a one-off for a major franchise user and supported the idea of an amendment rather than holding the contractor and project. Several members suggested staff bring a fee-schedule amendment to the board rather than treating the situation as an emergency withholding construction. Staff said the schedule of fees will appear on the board—s agenda and that they would draft the amendment for formal consideration.
The staff presentation also described the city—s permitting structure: franchise users may obtain an annual permit with a $25,000 bond that allows repeated digs in the right-of-way, while the excavation fee is meant to account for long-term degradation and loss of infrastructure life that occurs from cutting pavement. Several board members said the city should avoid taking on major roads financially unless the property tax base or annexation justifies doing so.
Next steps: staff will draft a fee-schedule amendment to present the board for formal action on the proposed lower square-foot fee for very large excavations.
