Title
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING APPROVING THE DIGITAL ACCESS MASTER PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DIG-ONCE POLICY FOR THE CITY OF DULUTH.
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
WHEREAS, the city council of the City of Duluth, Minnesota (“city council”) has
investigated and determined that expanded broadband access via a fiber optic network in the City of Duluth, Minnesota (“City”) is a fundamental aspect of the infrastructure required to educate students, create jobs, promote public safety, improve citizens’ standards of living and deliver essential services such as health care; and
WHEREAS, requiring conduit to be installed as part of public improvements projects or
developments in order to accommodate anticipated future demand for access to fiber infrastructure and services will assist the City in responsibly managing such facilities and areas by reducing or eliminating the need for excavation within public streets and rights-of-way when fiber service providers seek to locate underground facilities within such streets and public property, easements and rights-of-way in the future; reducing or eliminating the traffic disruption that occurs whenever excavation occurs within or around these areas; and reducing or eliminating the loss of pavement integrity and diminishment of the useful life of pavement that occurs whenever paved or improved streets and rights-of-way are cut and excavated; and
WHEREAS, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the largest cost
element for deploying broadband is burying fiber optic cables and conduit underground and the
Federal and the Federal Highway Administration has indicated that up to thirty percent of the cost of deploying broadband is when the work requires significant excavation of the roadway; and
WHEREAS, according to a study by the GAO (Government Accountability Office), Dig-Once policies can reduce the cost of deploying fiber under federal highways in urban areas by 25-33 percent, and by roughly 16 percent in rural areas; and
WHEREAS, coordinating road construction projects with the installation of broadband
facilities will save on costs incurred by repeated excavation in areas where the entire right-of-way is paved or developed and reduces deployment time by preventing the need to acquire duplicative reviews and permits for work done at the same location; and
WHEREAS, the City council finds that the benefits and positive impact associated with
the creation of such a network within the City have been recognized and acknowledged, and the
City desires to facilitate and expedite the construction high-speed fiber services to the City’s residential and commercial residents and visitors as part of an effort to bridge the digital divide of its citizens and community as part of the City’s Digital Access Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, the installation of fiber optic cable within the City will further the goals of
the City’s Digital Access Master Plan while at the same time commence the creation of a fiber optic network for the City which would largely amount to establishment of what is generally referred to or known as the “middle mile” of fiber; and
WHEREAS, the incremental installation of fiber optic cable within property owned by the
City or otherwise within public rights-of-way or easements in conjunction with public
improvements projects and private development in these areas will assist in expediting the
realization of a fiber optic network within the City, decrease the costs associated with the
construction and creation of such a system and will allow the City to control use of these public
ways through agreements on access to and use of such City-owned cable and infrastructure and in exchange of consideration to the City; and
WHEREAS, the installation of fiber optic cable within public property, easements and
rights-of-way will also provide access to meet the needs of City departments, public safety
organizations and other publicly owned and operated facilities as well as protecting these areas by improving both the management and regulation of competing demands through the elimination of duplicate fiber optic facilities within public property, easements and rights-of-way; protecting the economic vitality of the City by providing the broadband transport service and fiber facilities leasing required by broadband service providers; and reducing the costs associated with maintaining sidewalks, pavement and public facilities located within public property, easements and rights-of-way by minimizing the number of pavement cuts and dislocation of other public facilities necessitated by the construction or installation of fiber optic facilities; and
WHEREAS, in furtherance of these interests, the city council finds that road and other capital improvements projects involving the, refurbishment, replacement and/or widening of existing public streets, alleys and roadways or sidewalks or walkways in the City as well as the creation of new improved streets, alleys, roadways, sidewalks or walkways by the City or private developers or the installation of any new drainage or sewer pipes or infrastructure within City property, easements or public rights-of-way shall include a review of the existing fiber infrastructure and determination by the Director of Public Works or their designee to determine if the construction and installation of fiber infrastructure is necessary within City property, easements or public rights-of-way to which the City has access or ownership; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Public Works or their designee will ensure the proper installation and construction of fiber appurtenances and facilities, which shall be located parallel to the nearest public street or roadway and meets or exceeds specifications of fiber industry infrastructure standards for provision of high-speed broadband service, with the exact locations of such infrastructure and the specifications of which to be determined and periodically updated by the Director of Public Works or their designee in reliance on such industry standards and consideration of needs of the City’s Digital Access Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, the city council desires to foster a fair and open access for all internet service providers (market competitors) that does not advantage one service provider or technology over another; and
WHEREAS, the city council seeks to promote open access to the most technologically advanced telecommunications services for all City residents and businesses in a nondiscriminatory manner regarding authorization or placement of facilities in the right-of-way,
access to a building, or rates or terms; and
WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the City to protect and control access to public
rights-of-way and ensure that all service providers utilizing City property, facilities or rights-of way comply with all applicable state and local health, safety and other laws; and
WHEREAS, the city council has investigated and determined that it would be
advantageous and beneficial to the citizens of the City to establish standards for the installation
and construction of a fiber optic system within the City; and
WHEREAS, in addition to installing fiber optic network conduit, the party constructing the street will be required to install such vaults, manholes, hand-holes and other appurtenances and facilities as are necessary or needed to accommodate installation and connection of fiber optic cable within the fiber optic network conduit; and
WHEREAS, all construction and installation required in this authorizing resolution
shall be accomplished according to construction standards adopted by the Director of Public Works or the City’s designee in consideration of the needs of the City’s Digital Access Master Plan. Such standards shall be adopted with due consideration given to existing and anticipated technologies and industry standards; and
WHEREAS, all fiber optic network conduit, fiber optic cable, facilities and appurtenances installed by private parties or developers or by persons or entities other than the City pursuant to this Section shall be conveyed and dedicated to the City either with or as part of the dedication and conveyance of the public street and/or right-of-way to the City or otherwise; and
WHEREAS, in order to implement the above findings, City staff has developed and recommended approval of the Digital Access Master Plan--April 2022 attached hereto as Exhibit A.
RESOLVED, that the council hereby adopts and approves the Digital Access Master Plan--April. 2022 as the City's master plan for implementing universal broadband access in the City of Duluth.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the city council hereby approves implementation of the "Dig-Once" policy to include installation of equipment and materials to facilitate extension of broadband facilities through projects constructed on City right-of-way and City property and easements.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The purpose of this resolution is to obtain the city council’s approval of the Digital Access Master Plan--April 2022.