Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, August 06, 2024
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONTRACT FOR DARK FIBER WITH CROWN CASTLE FIBER LLC (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
On December 1, 2023, the Purchasing Division released an RFP (No. 23-049) for Dark Fiber Leases and/or Dark Fiber Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) services. The purpose of the Dark Fiber Lease is to provide primary and redundant fiber optic network connections between the City’s data centers and City Hall. The Dark Fiber lease agreements will serve to support the City of Carson’s regional data centers as a component of Carson’s IT Disaster Recovery Protocols.
The RFP closed on December 18, 2024, and no bids were received. Pursuant to CMC Section 2611(b)(3), the Purchasing Manager has determined since no proposals were received, the procurement may proceed without further compliance with competitive proposal requirements, and recommended City staff to solicit for quotes from regional telecommunications providers. Staff solicited quotes from regional telecommunications providers and received one (1) competitive quote from Crown Castle Fiber LLC, a national dark fiber telecommunications provider with significant fiber assets in Southern California. Crown Castle Fiber LLC was selected as a qualified consultant to provide Dark Fiber leases/licenses to connect the City’s internal network with the City’s offsite regional data centers. City Council approved an agreement with Crown Castle Fiber LLC during the April 16, 2024 Council Meeting.
After City Council’s approval on April 16, 2024, Crown Castle Fiber staff communicated the firm would remove installation costs for construction as the company is voluntarily building their network backbone to City of Carson. The removal of the construction contract language and modification to a telecommunications license agreement led to a significant update in the contract language for both City and vendor. In addition, the contract changes removed the $10,000 in non-recurring installation costs. Therefore, staff recommends City Council approve an updated contract with Crown Castle Fiber LLC for Dark Fiber.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. APPROVE a contract with Crown Castle Fiber LLC for Dark Fiber Licenses for an amount not to exceed $1,062,000 for a total term of 10 years; and
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the contract after approval as to form by the City Attorney.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City of Carson is acquiring colocation space at regional data centers to enable initiation of several critical network and server upgrade projects currently on hold until the disaster recovery site is activated. The City requires primary and redundant network connectivity between City Hall and the regional data centers to connect to the City’s equipment.
On December 1, 2023, the Purchasing Division released an RFP (No. 23-049) for Dark Fiber Leases and/or Dark Fiber Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) services.
On December 18, 2024, the RFP closed, and no bids were received. Pursuant to CMC Section 2611(b)(3), the Purchasing Manager has determined since no proposals were received, the procurement may proceed without further compliance with competitive proposal requirements, and recommended City staff solicit telecommunications providers for quotes.
City staff received a competitive quote from Crown Castle Fiber LLC for primary and redundant dark fiber leases. Crown Castle Fiber LLC was selected as a qualified consultant to provide Dark Fiber leases/licenses for a 10-year term. Crown Castle’s proposed costs were reasonable and within the City’s budget at $10,000 for the non-recurring installation costs, $106,200 for the first-year dark fiber lease/license costs, and an annual rate of $106,200 each renewal year of dark fiber lease/license costs for a total 10-year term.
Subsequent to City Council’s approval on April 16, 2024 of a contract with Crown Castle, Crown Castle Fiber staff notified City staff their company is making a deliberate first step to expand their fiber backbone network to the City of Carson. Crown Castle’s communication of its scheduled expansion of their fiber network to the City of Carson as a viable market poised for economic growth, means the City is no longer required to pay for the $10,000 non-recurring installation costs. The removal of the construction scope of work led to a significant update in the contract language for both City and vendor. Therefore, staff recommends City Council approve an updated telecommunication license agreement with Crown Castle Fiber LLC for Dark Fiber.
Contract Provisions
There was a fair amount of contract negotiations between Crown Castle and the City Attorney’s Office where staff seeks to highlight one point in particular for the City Council. Crown Castle’s potential total liability will be limited to five times the contract sum except there will be no limit on liability in the event of Crown Castle’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The cost associated with the 10-year contract with Crown Castle Fiber LLC is not to exceed the amount of $1,062,000. The total cost of the annual dark fiber lease/license of $106,200 is included in the current Information Technology & Security Department FY2024-25 budget. Annual dark fiber lease/license costs for the remaining nine (9) years will be included in the proposed FY2025-26 and subsequent budget years.
|
Fiscal Year |
Amount |
Account Number |
|
FY2024-25 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2025-26 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2026-27 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2027-28 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2028-29 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2029-30 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2030-31 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2031-32 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2032-33 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
FY2033-34 |
$106,200.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
|
Total |
$1,062,000.00 |
101-54-520-101-6004 Professional services |
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Contract with Crown Castle Fiber LLC
Prepared by: Gary Carter, Director, Information Technology&Security Department