Herriman staff recommends standard bonding, flags right-of-way concerns in Centwave telecom franchise talks

Herriman staff presented a draft franchise agreement with Centwave on Wednesday and recommended retaining a standing bond rather than limiting bonding to the construction period, citing the citys need to ensure removal or relocation of infrastructure inside municipal rights of way.

The presenter (Speaker 10) said the revised template mirrors recent changes to the citys telecommunications ordinance and applies the applicable federal caps for franchise fees. "What we have in there right now is that the bonding would be at $50,000," the presenter said, explaining the bond gives the city funds to remove facilities if a provider abandons equipment in the right of way. Centwave asked to narrow bonding to the construction period; staff advised keeping the broader bond so the city can act if infrastructure remains in the right of way.

Council members raised questions about how many providers the city should allow in the right of way and whether the council should set a limit now to avoid future operational conflicts during public projects. Speaker 10 said the city does not currently have enough providers for capacity to be a problem but recommended monitoring and potentially denying new franchises only after a threshold of conflicts is reached.

The council asked staff to bring the item back for formal consideration with any recommended contract language changes, including the bonding clause and right-of-way management provisions; no final vote was taken at the work meeting.

The draft agreement also treats some new providers like cable for fee purposes, applying a 5% fee in certain circumstances, and clarifies that providers typically install service where the investment is financially viable rather than guaranteeing buildout to all properties.