Agenda Memo

City of Boulder City Council Agenda Item Meeting Date: September 3, 2026

Agenda Title Consideration of a motion to approve and authorize the city manager to execute an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Boulder and County of Boulder with an effective date of August 20, 2026, for the exchange of fiber and telecommunications infrastructure in substantially the same form as in Attachment A

Staff Contact • • • • •

Joe Taddeucci, Utilities Director Maria Rotunda, Community Broadband Program Manager, Utilities Chris Douville, Deputy Director of Operations for Utilities Don Mulvey, Innovation and Technology Deputy Director Andy Frohardt, Assistant City Attorney III

Draft Motion Language Staff requests council consideration of this matter and action in the form of the following motion: Motion to approve and authorize the city manager to execute an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Boulder and County of Boulder with an effective date of August 20, 2026, for the exchange of fiber and telecommunications infrastructure in substantially the same form as in Attachment A.

Executive Summary The purpose of this item is to approve and authorize the city manager to execute an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the city and Boulder County for exchange fiber and other telecommunications infrastructure. The city and the county have entered into previous intergovernmental agreements that allowed the county to use city fiber and conduit and for the city to use county conduit for various public purposes, city and county needs, and overall mutual community benefit. The effective date is back-dated to the date of approval of the Boulder Board of County Commissioners. In the IGA, the city will lease to the county fiber strands throughout its 432-strand Community Broadband fiber backbone and each of five fiber laterals from that backbone for the County’s exclusive use. These fiber strands are described as follows; Four (4) fiber strands throughout the route of the city’s 432-strand Community Broadband fiber backbone (approximately 50.5 fiber route miles, totaling 202.0 fiber strand miles); Four (4) fiber strands in each of two lateral cables from the Community Broadband fiber backbone to the Boulder County Communications Center Data Center located at 3280 Airport Rd, Boulder, CO 80301 (0.2 fiber route miles, totaling 0.8 fiber strand miles); Four (4) fiber strands in each of two lateral cables from the Community Broadband fiber backbone to the city’s Public Safety Building and associated data center, located at 1805 33rd St, Boulder, CO, 80301 (0.1 fiber route miles, totaling 0.4 fiber strand miles); and Eight (8) fiber strands in one lateral cable from the Community Broadband fiber backbone to the Gunbarrel radio tower facility located in the general area of East Boulder/Gunbarrel Trail/Heatherwood/Gunbarrel, Boulder County, CO 80544, FCC Tower ID: 1209700, coordinates: 40.0653° N, -105.1555° W (1.2 fiber route miles, totaling 9.6 fiber strand miles); and Eight (8) fiber strands in one lateral cable from the Community Broadband fiber backbone to the Boulder County Hub facility located at 2525 28th St, Boulder, CO 80301 (0.2 fiber route miles, totaling 1.6 fiber strand miles).

Council Action Options Option

Outcome

Approve motion language as drafted

If the motion is approved the City Manager is authorized to execute an agreement between the city

and Boulder County for exchange of fiber strands and telecommunications infrastructure. Define and adopt a modified motion

Council would need to define any modifications or amendments to the draft motion language. This will likely require staff to bring back an amended version of the agreement.

Deny the motion or take no action

If this motion is denied, the City Manager will not negotiate and execute an agreement between the city and Boulder County, Colorado. This will impact the city’s goals for the fiber network usage and mutually beneficial outcomes for both the City and Boulder County.

Refer back to staff

If council refers this item back to staff further research will be conducted to identify other options.

Alignment with City Plans and City Council History Sustainability, Equity and Resilience (SER) Framework and Citywide Strategic Plan Alignment SER Framework Goal Area This agreement supports the Accessible and Connected and Responsibly Governed goals of the SER Framework.

Citywide Strategic Plan While not represented in a specific action within the Citywide Strategic Plan, this IGA supports Strategy 12 under the Responsively Governed: Implement organizational and financial best practices to continuously improve asset management, customer experience, and project and program performance. Staff Notes n/a

Alignment with Additional City Plans

Through the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, section 1.01 Regional & Statewide Cooperation, and this IGA, the city and the county have worked collaboratively to achieve shared goals of infrastructure and regional connections.

City Council History This item codifies all prior fiber asset and telecommunication agreements into one 20year IGA between the City of Boulder and Boulder County.

Analysis The prior telecommunications and infrastructure agreements between the entities have ranged from formal intergovernmental agreements to unwritten understandings. These prior agreements have had differing renewal periods and end dates – causing confusion and difficulty in administration of impending cessation of rights of use. The Parties now desire to codify the mutually agreed upon exchange of various conduit, fiber, and telecommunications interests and infrastructure exchanged between the city and the county into a single intergovernmental agreement. The purpose of this is to specify the terms and conditions of sharing and delegating responsibilities, including implementation, oversight, and enforcement authority and clarifying responsibilities between the city and county for fiber connectivity, conduit use, and infrastructure sharing; resolving and codifying open issues and understandings; and, generally, easing the administrative burden on both Parties to maintain ongoing telecommunications infrastructure. Council is being asked to authorize the city manager to execute this IGA between the city and county to capture all fiber leasing and exchanges into one agreement that will decrease administration and oversight time.

Equity Analysis For the equity analysis, the Rapid Response Equity Assessment was performed. The primary beneficiaries of this project are the internal operating departments of both the city and the county, and local taxpayers who will benefit from the shared use of resources. Because this agreement is limited to internal government operations and does not provision public Wi-Fi or commercial internet access, the primary interface with the public is localized right-of-way (ROW) construction. Any potential impact is confined to

the temporary, physical disruption of traffic, noise, or sidewalk access in areas where underground maintenance or cable pulling occurs. This IGA does not specifically benefit nor harm any group in the community. Therefore, there is no significant anticipated equity impact.

Fiscal Note Estimated Fiscal Impact Narrative The IGA ensures that neither city nor county taxpayers duplicate costs for public infrastructure. For instance, exchange of dark fiber resources allows both jurisdictions to scale their internal networks (for public safety, smart traffic management, and emergency facilities) without new capital expenditures. Staff administration time would also be reduced. The new pricing structure allows the city to recover overhead associated with maintenance costs.

Current Year Estimated Fiscal Impact Fund(s): General Fund Department(s): Innovation & Technology Program(s): Infrastructure Services

FY 2026 Budget

FY 2026 Estimated Impact

FY 2026 Net Change

Beginning Fund Balance

$43,506,310

-

$43,506,310

Total Forecasted Revenue

$198,791,103

$81,866

$198,872,969

Total Estimated Expenses

$194,483,450

-

$194,483,450

Ending Fund Balance(s) After Reserves

$1,871,568

-

$1,871,568

FTE

801

-

801

Item

Three-Year Estimated Fiscal Impact

Item

FY 2026

FY 2027

FY 2028

Total Forecasted Revenue

$81,866

0

0

Total Estimated Expenses

0

0

0

Net Estimated Impact

$81,866

0

0

The county is leasing 222.4 dark fiber strand miles on 56.2 fiber route miles from the city. As of the effective date, the county agrees to pay the city $27,920.00 per year. The city is leasing 505 LF of shared conduit from the County, and as of the effective date, the city agrees to pay the county $631.25 per year. For convenience the county’s payment to the city will be reduced by the amount of the city’s payment to the county. The county will pay the city $27,288.75 per year, payable in one installment payment for first three years in the amount of $81,866.25.

Climate, Resilience, and Sustainability Considerations The IGA strengthens critical municipal infrastructure by optimizing shared dark fiber and telecommunications assets to enhance regional climate resilience, as experienced during regular community operations or emergency events.

Community Engagement Based on the nature and scope of this IGA, city staff determined that a formal community engagement process was not necessary. This is because this intergovernmental agreement refines existing agreements and relates to internal ity and county operations.

Workplan Considerations This item is not expected to materially impact the city staff’s existing workplan.

Next Steps for City Council If council approves the IGA and a motion to authorize the city manager to execute the agreement, staff will finalize it for execution by the city manager. Boulder County has already approved and executed the IGA.

Accessibility Statement The City of Boulder is committed to digital accessibility. Some content may not be fully accessible due to technical limitations or issues. For alternate formats or accommodations, please visit Accessibility | City of Boulder or contact accessibility@bouldercolorado.gov.

Attachments A - Intergovernmental Agreement