Council presses staff for document and funding clarity on NCFI build‑out and cable relocations

Council members asked city staff for clearer documentation and funding allocations for the NCFI build‑out after staff said some necessary cabling and related work would fall outside the grant scope.

Mister President introduced several related resolutions to authorize relocation of AT&T and Charter Communications fiber and copper lines serving the Hoover Public Safety Center, and staff explained the work is necessary before construction begins. Mister Moose said the lines feed multiple entities — NCFI, 911 dispatch, the city and forensics — and “all those lines need to be relocated before they can actually break the ground there.”

Questions followed on whether the cabling relocation costs would be reimbursed from NCFI expansion funds or federal dollars. Miss Lopez told the council, “we do not expect that it will be paid for out of the grant,” and that many grant dollars had been attributed to the MJ Harris contract, leaving routine city responsibilities outside grant coverage.

Council members asked for copies of the original project materials so they could understand what the $24,000,000 NCFI project covers and which costs the city must absorb. Staff agreed to assemble documents and include a categorized list in a presentation that will identify expenses subject to the grant and those under city purview.

Miss Lopez also said the Capital Projects Fund would be used to cover city costs related to the cabling work; she noted the fund balance, previously around $7,000,000, has decreased because of vehicle and equipment purchases.

The items were introduced as a set of resolutions (871426, 871526, 871626 and related budget language corrections) during the work session; formal votes were not taken in the work session.