A 107-year-old city agreement for telecommunications work was changed Thursday because its wording had become obsolete. The contract is for the installation and maintenance of telecommunications equipment in the city, barring those related to cable services.
City Council passed the change with a unanimous vote Thursday.
City Attorney Christina Shelton said her office and the department of public works had entered negotiations for several months with Verizon, who now holds the contract, to come up with a new version.
Shelton said the existing agreement “dates back to 1906 and does not reflect reality any longer.”
As early as October 2010, the city was hoping to update the agreement with Verizon Wireless. In August, the city advertised seeking other telecommunications companies who wanted a shot at the contract to submit bids to Director of Public Works Dan Clayton. No other companies came forward.
The new contract will run for 20 years, Shelton said, and is “automatically renewable for two successive 10-year terms for a total of 40 years, which is the maximum allowed by Virginia law at this time.”
The updates include when Verizon can be in the city rights of way, when they need to get permits to do so, a push to bury telecommunications lines and the possibility of future “rights of way user fees.”
The new agreement — in the form of a city ordinance — can be found on the city website.
