HomeMy WebLinkAbout15- Bozeman Fiber Inc and City of Bozeman for the Lease of Dark FiberMemorandum of Understanding
Between Bozeman Fiber, Inc.
and the City of Bozeman for the Lease of Dark Fiber
This Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") is intended to summarize the principal terms
of a future dark fiber lease agreement ("Lease") and to set forth the intention of the City of
Bozeman, a self governing municipal corporation organized and existing under its Charter and
the laws of the State of Montana with its principal offices located at 121 North Rouse, Bozeman,
MT ("City") and Bozeman Fiber, Inc., a Montana non-profit corporation with its principal
offices located at 2000 Commerce Way, Bozeman, MT ("BFI") to enter into a definitive dark
fiber lease agreement.
This MOU binds the City and BFI (hereinafter collectively called "the Parties") to conduct
good faith negotiations to execute a lease of dark fiber serving the City and Bozeman School
District #7 ("Schools") locations listed in Exhibit A under the following terms, subject to
negotiation between the Parties:
1. BFI will grant Lease to the City for the use and benefit of the City and the Schools at the
price of $556 per month per location, not including maintenance fees, payable annually.
The Lease will be signed by the City as Lessee, and will include an exhibit executed by
the Schools granting the City authority to enter into the Lease on behalf of the Schools.
2. The Lease will be for a fixed term of ten (10) years. After the end of the initial ten (10)
year lease term, the City and the Schools will have the option to renew the Lease tern for
an additional ten (10) years.
3. The City and Schools agree to pay connection fees for each site at a rate not to exceed
$2,500 per location. The Parties will negotiate building entrance locations/demarcation
points that are mutually favorable.
4. If, after five (5) years of service under the original Lease pricing, the City finds an
identical dark fiber service is available in the market at a lower price point, it may engage
BFI in negotiations on lease price. If both parties find that dark fiber offering is a
technically like product, the City may receive a discount on the remaining five (5) years
of the contract for a price matching the competing service's price, provided that the total
discounted price may not be more than 10% less than the original Lease price.
5. The City will take all reasonable steps to seek budget appropriations, to the extent
permitted by law, in each fiscal year during the term of the Lease to meet its payment
obligations under the Lease, but payment is contingent on the appropriation of funds by
the City Commission. In the event that no funds or insufficient funds are appropriated by
the City Commission for the next fiscal year for payments due under the Lease, the Lease
will terminate on the last day of the fiscal year for which appropriations were received.
6. The Lease will include a contingency allowing the City to terminate the Lease without
penalty if BFI is unable to deliver access to the dark fiber at a date certain to be identified
in the Lease agreement.
7. The Parties agree to work diligently toward finalizing and executing the Lease agreement
upon receiving written notice from BFI of the conclusion of its engineering of the
network. A formal technical description and exhibit will be included in the Lease
agreement detailing the dark fiber assets that will be provided.
8. The Parties may not assignor otherwise transfer the Lease or its rights or obligations to
another party, either in whole or in part, without the other Party's consent, such consent
not to be unreasonably withheld.
9. If BFI engages in any action to sell any or all of the BFI network assets, the City will
have a right of first refusal to purchase any or all of such assets.
10. Technical requirements. Each site shown on Exhibit A will receive a pair of fiber strands
in a ring configuration. For sites that are on laterals off of the main BFI network rings, a
collapsed ring will be established utilizing two pair in each required lateral.
11. The Parties will negotiate other separate agreements as necessary to address service,
network operations, connectivity, repair and maintenance, and other related issues. For
example, the City's maintenance obligations will be contained in the Lease agreement,
while the Schools' maintenance obligations will be contained in a separate agreement
between the Schools and BFI.
12. Nondiscrimination. BFI agrees that all hiring by BFI of persons performing under this
MOU or the Lease will be on the basis of merit and qualifications. BFI will have a
policy to provide equal employment opportunity in accordance with all applicable state
and federal anti -discrimination laws, regulations, and contracts. BFI will not refuse
employment to a person, bar a person from employment, or discriminate against a person
in compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment because of race,
color, religion, creed, political ideas, sex, age, marital status, national origin, actual or
perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, except when
the reasonable demands of the position require an age, physical or mental disability,
marital status or sex distinction. BFI will be subject to and comply with Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1965; Section 140, Title 2, United States Code, and all regulations
promulgated thereunder. BFI will require these nondiscrimination terms of its
subcontractors providing services under the Lease.
13. Nothing contained in this MOU shall be construed to create any partnership or agency
relationship between the Parties for any purpose, action, or transaction, including those
related to this MOU. This MOU does not create a joint venture or any form of separate
legal entity.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this MOU has been executed by a duly authorized
representative of each Party as of the day and year written below.
BOZEMAN FIBER, INC.
cqzf
(Aut rized Signature) (Printed Name)
(Title)
S � --2- f S
(Date)
CITY OF BOZEMAN
(Authorized Signature)
hrC5 6 1 • KoKo4 '
(Printed Name),
I- / /} t ci q CKi
(Title)
-��
(Date)
EXHIBIT A
Initial Sites
City of Bozeman
1. City Hall 121 N. Rouse Ave
2. Professional Building 20 East Olive St
3. Bozeman Public Library 626 East Main St
4. Law and Justice Center (City) 615 S. 16th Ave (Collapsed Ring)
5. Fire 2 410 S. 19th Ave (Collapsed Ring)
6. Fire 3 and 911 1705 Vaquero Pkwy (Collapsed Ring)
Bozeman Public Schools
1. Bozeman High School
2. Chief Joseph Middle School
3. Sacajawea Middle School
4. Emily Dickinson Elementary School
5. Hawthorne Elementary School
6. Hyalite Elementary School
7. Irving Elementary School
8. Longfellow Elementary School
9. Meadowlark Elementary School
10. Morning Star Elementary School
11. Whittier Elementary School
12. Willson Building
205 North 11 th Ave
4255 Kimberwicke (Collapsed Ring)
3525 South 3rd Ave. (Collapsed Ring)
2435 Annie Street
114 North Rouse
3600 West Babcock
611 South 8th
516 South Tracy
4415 Durston Road
830 Arnold Street (Collapsed Ring)
511 North 5th
404 West Main Street
If the City or Schools require additional sites to be connected at a future date, they will
negotiate with BFI on construction costs associated with additional sites.
MEMORANDUM
To: Scott McMahan, Information Technology Manager
Anna Rosenberry, Administrative Services Director
Cc: Greg Sullivan, City Attorney
David Fine, Economic Development Specialist
FROM THE OFFICE OF
THE CITY MANAGER
CHRIS KUKULSKI
BOZEMAN,MONTANA
July 27, 2015
Subject: Re: Request to Sole Source the Purchase of Dark Fiber Services from Bozeman Fiber Inc.
For the following reasons, as City Manager, I approve the sole source purchase of "dark fiber services"
from Bozeman Fiber, Inc. for the City of Bozeman, and for eventual service to Bozeman School District
#7, and, possibly, Gallatin County locations. I incorporate the findings from your memo on July 23rd, 2015
and further determine:
1. The bandwidth provided by dark fiber access will improve service for our critical technical and
communication equipment, including that housed in Police, Fire, and Public Works.
2. Bozeman Fiber, Inc, is the only company or provider we anticipate will provide "dark fiber" to the
City.
3. Dark fiber access increases our security, flexibility, and control.
4. Current per site costs for the City will go down from our current services with Charter
Communications,
Sole Source is approved under section 6) DOCUMENTATION AND SELECTION OF VENDORS; d) When
Bids or Quotes are Not Required — Special Cases for Sole Source Purchases; ii) there is only one source for the
supply or service item.
Integrity, Leadership, Service, Teamwork
CITY OF BOZEMAN
MEMORANDUM
DATE: July 23, 2015
TO: Chris Kukulski, City Manager
CC: Greg Sullivan, City Attorney
David Fine, Economic Development Specialist
FROM: Scott McMahan, Information Technology Manager
Anna Rosenberry, Administrative Services Director
SUBJECT: Request to Sole Source the Purchase of Dark Fiber Services from Bozeman Fiber Inc.
We are seeking City Manager approval for purchasing "dark fiber services" from Bozeman Fiber, Inc. for the
City of Bozeman, and for eventual service to Bozeman School District #7 and, possibly, Gallatin County
locations.
For a number of years, the City has recognized the advantages of direct fiber connections owned/controlled by
the City. We connected Fire Station 1 and City Hall with fiber two years ago, during the Mendenhall
Water/Street project. We also will be connecting City Hall and the Shops Complex with fiber this summer as
part of the North Montana Avenue mill and overlay project. We undertook these projects because of the cost -
savings relative to their short -distance connections of fiber and because we were already mobilizing for other
water/street projects in the area.
Through work with the School District and Gallatin County, we have a general understanding of the
advantages dark fiber would have for their critical data and communication networks. We also believe that, if
all three entities become customers, we could capitalize on opportunities for shared data centers or disaster
recovery facilities.
Currently, the City leases 100 megabit (MB) fiber circuits from Charter Communications to facilitate network
communications between seven (7) city locations (City Hall, Fire Station 3, Shops Complex, Library,
Professional Building, Law & Justice Center, and the Water Reclamation Facility.) We will be dropping one of
these locations with the installation of a direct fiber connection between City Hall and the Shops Complex this
summer. We currently pay $625 per circuit per month for 100MB service. As the City operations have a
need for increased bandwidth, the monthly lease costs are expected to increase and without control of the
dark fiber asset, the City will continue to pay service provider fees. The City should anticipate a cost increase
each time we need to increase the speed of these circuits or add a new location or facility with data and
communication needs:
As proposed, Bozeman Fiber, Inc. could provide strands of dark fiber to the City at the remaining six City
locations. Bozeman Fiber Inc.'s network design intends to connect City, County and School District facilities
with dark fiber. We could then utilize, or "light the fiber" at whatever speeds are desired, without increasing
our monthly fiber cost. The city would own all of the termination equipment that allows communications to
occur at a specific speed.
1. Access to dark fiber and our ability to "light the fiber" is a critical technical service. These services are
absolutely critical to the City's ability to communicate on a moment -to -moment basis. Highly
technical computer and communication equipment used by our Police, Fire, Public Works, and other
departments is in need of fiber bandwidth on a 24/7/365 basis. The proper functioning of the fiber
and switches is the responsibility of our Information Technology Division, more specifically the concern
of the City's highly -skilled Network Administration staff.
2. The ability to lease or long-term contract for "dark fiber" to all City locations is a unique service
provided by Bozeman Fiber, Inc.
a. Dark fiber is not currently available at all City, County and School District locations in Bozeman.
We have embarked on connecting City Hall with the Shops Complex this summer, as part of our
renovations on North Montana Avenue. However, we do not expect to have opportunities to
connect more of our buildings in the near future; and
b. During the past months, City staff have been talking with and searching -out communication and
technology vendors in Bozeman who could provide "dark fiber". We are not currently aware of
any other companies or providers that are able and willing to provide dark fiber to the City at
this time.
3. If the City has access to more dark fiber:
a. The City will utilize dark fiber's inherent flexibility and capacity to control our own
communication system performance;
b. The City will have greater security and control oversensitive criminal justice information
transferred between City buildings;
c. The City can control and upgrade the speed of its network when necessary without having to
wait for the provider to upgrade their equipment;
d. The City will install appropriately sized switches and other network equipment to maximize
access to our systems. For instance, currently our 100MB connection to a back-up server is too
small to back up all of the necessary data in a timely fashion;
e. The City will have full control over its wide area network;
f. The City will have the opportunity at the end of the ten year IRU (Indefeasible Right of Use) to
purchase a longterm IRU at a favorable price; and
g. Utilizing dark fiber will improve our connectivity now and provide the ability to take advantage
of future technology needs such as video, cloud services and others.
UNRESOLVED ISSUES: The cost of the dark fiber after the initial 10 year contract has yet to be determined,
FISCAL EFFECTS: The City's per site costs will go down from what we are currently paying for services from
Charter Communications.
ALTERNATIVES: Enter into a new 3-5 year contract with Charter communications at the current or higher
rate than we are paying now,