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EBDA approves NES MOU for Central Waterfront duct bank, members press for comms plan
Summary
The board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with Nashville Electric Service to construct an NES-only duct bank across the Central Waterfront; members asked staff for the Metro ITS feasibility report and pressed for plans to avoid future repeated roadway digs for communications infrastructure.
The board approved a memorandum of understanding with Nashville Electric Service (NES) to coordinate installation of an NES duct bank across the Central Waterfront district and to share responsibilities for construction and cost‑sharing under that agreement.
Michelle Scople, presenting the MOU, said the agreement is intended to cover central waterfront stretches so staff and NES can "work smarter, not harder" rather than redoing separate agreements for each corridor. She described the construction sequence: EBDA crews will install conduits and grounding cable and NES will follow by installing cabling, transformers and other equipment. "We are running the conduit with the grounding cable, and they're coming in later, really immediately after us and running all of the, cabling and setting, you know, the turtle boxes and all of the transformers," she said.
Board members raised questions about whether the duct bank would include extra conduits for fiber and whether a fully shared communications duct bank was feasible. Presenters said Metro ITS completed a feasibility study and concluded that a full, city-funded shared duct bank would have required a much higher upfront cost and lease rates that did not make financial sense under current assumptions; staff said the NES bank under the MOU is an NES-only 24-conduit bank with opportunities for later coordination. Staff also noted that past partnerships average a roughly 60/40 cost split, with the authority covering about 60% of the physical asset cost in partner projects; staff said the MOU itself does not obligate the authority to immediate spending and that any expenditures would return to the board for approval.
A motion to approve the NES MOU was moved and seconded on the floor and the motion passed with votes recorded as "Aye." Staff said they will continue coordination with Metro ITS and communications stakeholders and will provide the ITS feasibility report to the board on request.
Next steps: Staff will continue coordination with NES and comms stakeholders and supply the Metro ITS report to the board; construction activity noted in the meeting has already begun at related sites.
