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Council questions private fiber developer inspections and reimbursement arrangement as residents report recurring "fast patch" failures
Summary
Council and residents pressed staff about inspection records and recurring failures in the city's developer-led fiber project; staff said an inspector contracted via TOTEM is reimbursed by the developer up to $150,000 per year and that a contract amendment would add $73,000 for inspection services.
Councilmembers and residents aired frustration about recurring defects tied to a private fiber deployment and asked how inspection and reimbursement arrangements are working. Public works staff explained the city's arrangement: the developer (referred to as Syfy/SciFi in the discussion) reimburses the city for an inspector and related construction management up to $150,000 per year under the development agreement. Staff said the inspector has been provided through a third party (TOTEM) and acts as a reimbursable, temporary resource to help identify failed microtrench or fast-patch locations for repair.
Residents said the repair process has been inefficient, with contractors fixing small patches that later fail and lamented not seeing inspection reports. A resident asked, "Can I see what the inspector comes back with?" Public works responded that inspection records for this kind of reimbursable public-private work are tracked through permits and work-zone closures rather than a single consolidated daily report for the whole city; staff said they maintain daily inspection records for capital-improvement projects but that this private partnership uses permit close-outs and punch lists as the record. Staff also said they are working to replace failing fast-patch material with a more durable "Maxwell" product and that they are holding Syfy to reimbursements and corrective work. The contract for TOTEM expires in 2026; staff said the current amendment proposes an additional $73,000 to fund construction management and inspection services as work continues.
Councilmembers noted that bringing back alternative inspection or contracting options could slow the project and that doing so might stall scheduled improvements. Staff cautioned that changing inspectors may delay work and said any such change would be discussed with legal and contractor scheduling implications. The city recorded a motion to proceed with contract amendment discussions; council did not take immediate action to terminate the developer arrangement during the meeting.
