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Council approves utilities communications contract, fee schedule updates and multiple contracts in consent
Summary
Fremont council approved a five-year utilities contract with Doppler for incident response and customer communications, adopted a revised master fee schedule, and approved several construction and maintenance contracts and appointments in a package of votes.
The Fremont City Council approved a package of service agreements, contracts and fee updates that will affect utilities operations, permitting fees and several capital projects.
Utilities: The council approved resolution 2026-114 authorizing a five-year contract with Doppler for incident response and supplemental dispatch services. Utilities General Manager Jeff Shanahan said the service — budgeted at $90,000 per year with a $30,000 implementation fee and 5% annual increases — will provide after-hours call handling, daytime overflow during major outages, outage heat maps, and opt-in customer text notifications during outages or planned water work. Shanahan told council the service aims to reduce missed calls during storms and allow more proactive communication to customers.
Fees: City administrator Jody Sanders presented the combined city and Fremont Department of Utilities master fee schedule update (resolution 2026-109). The update rebases building-permit valuations to a February 2024 schedule (phased changes to avoid a single-year spike) and adds or adjusts several fees (including EMS/ambulance billing and a new $35-per-night concession-stand usage fee for Christensen Field with nonprofit discounts). Council discussed compassionate collection practices for EMS billing and approved the fee schedule 6-0.
Contracts and consent items: Council approved multiple contract awards and consent items previously discussed: final acceptance and final payment for the Cabbage Parking Garage (resolution 2026-103), contract for downtown parking lot reconstruction to Miguel Restoration ($460,343.36, resolution 2026-101), rehabilitation of collector vaults and manholes to Ace Pipe Cleaning ($369,904, resolution 2026-102), appointment of Carrie Hofford as Street Superintendent (resolution 2026-091), and several consent-agenda items. Most of these motions passed unanimously; a few items (Tin Lizzie Tavern SDL and the earlier blight resolution) recorded 5-1 or 5-1 votes as noted elsewhere.
Votes at a glance: - Resolution 2026-111 (23rd & N Cedar blight): approved 5-1 - Resolution 2026-103 (Cabbage Parking Garage final acceptance): approved 6-0 - Resolution 2026-091 (appointing Carrie Hofford): approved 6-0 - Resolution 2026-101 (Miguel Restoration downtown parking contract): approved 6-0 - Resolution 2026-102 (Ace Pipe Cleaning manhole rehabilitation): approved 6-0 - Resolution 2026-109 (master fee schedule update): approved 6-0 - Resolution 2026-112 (airport taxiway contract to Paulson): approved 6-0 - Resolution 2026-114 (Doppler incident response): approved 6-0 - SDL for Tin Lizzie Tavern (May 16 event): approved 5-1
Why it matters: The Doppler contract aims to improve customer communications during outages and reduce missed calls; the fee schedule changes affect permitting and service fees that touch residents and businesses; contract awards move capital and maintenance projects toward implementation.
Next steps: Departments will implement the Doppler service, schedule construction per awarded contracts, and apply revised fees per resolution language.
