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Public Service Committee backs $300,000 materials buy as CityLink nears finish, debates end of cable TV
Summary
The committee approved advancing a $300,000 purchase order for fiber construction materials and spent much of the meeting weighing when to stop offering legacy cable TV as CityLink expands — staff said about 5,300 homes are ready and installations are the current bottleneck.
Assistant Service Director Mike Testa told the Public Service Committee the City needs to authorize a $300,000 purchase order for CityLink construction supplies to avoid long lead times as federal broadband projects expand. "This request related to the construction materials," Testa said, describing spools of fiber, splice enclosures and HST units used to connect pole/pedestal runs to homes.
The committee briefly reviewed procurement details: the legislation authorizes purchases through Graybar Electric via the OMNIA Partners cooperative or a lower-priced state-approved vendor. Testa said the purchase was written with flexibility in case another vendor could undercut the cooperative price. He asked the committee to suspend and call so the purchase order could be issued quickly.
Staff gave progress metrics and technical context. "Right now there were about 5,300 homes ready for service," Testa said; he added 1,660 homes were fully installed and 867 customers were using streaming TV. Testa explained splicing — connecting hundreds of fiber strands one at a time — has been the limiting task and that recent improvements raised the number of homes ready for service from roughly 3,000 to 5,300. He described testing and recent street-by-street completions and said payment to the contractor requires passing both contractor and CityLink inspections.
Council members pressed on outreach, budget and timing. Council Member Chris Maxwell asked how residents learn service is available; Testa said the department is using the CityLink website map, utility bill inserts, outbound calls by customer service representatives, social media and targeted marketing collateral. Council Member Zach Berger asked whether the $300,000 was part of the budget; Testa confirmed it was budgeted and that past purchase orders still had about $50,000 remaining.
The committee voted to forward the ordinance to the council agenda with a recommendation to suspend and call so staff can secure materials promptly.
