Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Information Technology

TO:	David Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	James Wisdom, Director of Information Technology
DATE:	December 10^th, 2013
RE:	Dawn Fiber Project Proposal

Overview

Earlier this summer Kennis Mann and Mike Bosch approached the City of Lawrence regarding a fiber project they were considering, which included extending fiber from 5^th & Tennessee in Lawrence to their office in Baldwin City, KS (see attached proposal)

Dawn Fiber had a general fiber path in mind and although they were considering several routes, they inquired what route would best benefit the City of Lawrence. Dawn Fiber met on several occasions with Public Works, City Attorney’s Office, and the Information Technology Departments to determine the best path for all parties.

Agreement Principles

Main points include:

Dawn Fiber will install approximately 19,000 feet of 1-1/4” innerduct provided by the City; path as follows: (See attached map of Dawn Fiber route).

5^th & Tennessee to 11^th & Tennessee
11^th & Tennessee to 11^th & Haskell
11^th & Haskell to 19^th & Haskell
19^th & Haskell to 19^th & Harper
19^th & Harper to 23^rd & Harper

Dawn Fiber will install a pull rope within the innerduct for future use.
Dawn Fiber and City to have separate hand holes
Dawn Fiber will install eleven (11) city provided hand-holes for city-use only along the path as designed by the City.
Dawn Fiber will connect new conduit to two other existing city-owned hand holes

6^th & Tennessee St.
23^rd & Harper

Dawn Fiber will provide access of four fibers to Baldwin City for City use.

(2) City’s Fire & Medial Station at 212 Kibbee Street.
(2) Spare, or to be determined

City will allow Dawn Fiber to run their fiber inside a current 3” conduit from 10 Highway and O’Connell Road south under the Wakarusa River.

Other Benefits to the City of Lawrence

Connections to other networks: The proposed installation allows the City to easily access two fiber networks, Kansas Fiber Network and Dawn Fiber, d/b/a Free State Broadband.

KFN: The hand hole being installed at 5^th & Tennessee hand-hole allows the City and Dawn Fiber to have easy access to the Kansas Fiber Network (KFN); (http://www.kansasfibernetwork.com/). KFN provides a state-wide network connection 29 independent telecommunication companies, and many other companies and organizations and specializes in Ethernet and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) transport long distance services, dedicated Internet access, wireless backhaul across the State of Kansas. The link: http://www.kansasfibernetwork.com/network-map/ provides a partial map of their statewide network.

Dawn Fiber: Dawn fiber is providing four fibers of their connection to Baldwin City that affords the City of Lawrence the chance to improve their services. Also, as Dawn Fiber grows the spare fiber connection will offer other opportunities.

Connections to future traffic signals: The conduit path would allow the Traffic Division to better manage the controllers at intersection 9^th & Tennessee, 11^th & Tennessee, 11^th & Kentucky, 11^th & Massachusetts, and 19^th & Haskell.

Connections to future buildings: The proposed conduit path would allow for future fiber connections to many City owned buildings, water tower, and fuel stations. This project will extend conduit to the right-of-way immediately adjacent to the majority of these locations.

Carnegie Building: Although there is no immediate need to install fiber at the Carnegie Building, the fiber at 9^th & Tennessee would be approximately 600 feet from the intersection if the City ever chose to install fiber.

Law Enforcement Center: The LEC Building is located 111 East 11^th St and currently serves as headquarters for Police, Sherriff, 911 Dispatch, and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Douglas County. An added connection to this building will offer an alternative path to several resources that support 911 and the jail which will improve services for both the City and the Douglas County, and may be more important if the Police Department builds its own facility.

Central Maintenance Garage: The garage located at 1141 Haskell Avenue currently uses a wireless connection to Wastewater for network access. Improving network connectivity speed to gigabit fiber will allow the two servers at the Garage to be located in the City’s server room at City Hall. There is already a fiber connection from the Garage to Tire Shop. The connection would improve from 35mb to 1,000mb (gigabit).

Street Division: The Street building is located at 1120 Haskell Ave. and is currently connected to Sanitation and Horticulture offices via fiber which share a wireless connection to Wastewater to connect to the City’s network.

Red Barn Building: The building known as the Red Barn is behind the Street Division Building and is where the maintenance of street equipment is maintained. Street management would like to add computer equipment at the site to allow maintenance records to be included in the Garage’s fleet system to better maintain true records of equipment operating costs.

Sanitation Division: The Sanitation Building is located at 1140 Haskell Ave. and is connected to the City’s network via a shared wireless connection to Wastewater.

Horticulture Offices: The Horticulture offices are located at 1110 Haskell Ave. The building is connected to the Street Division by aerial fiber and connects to the City network via a shared wireless connection to Wastewater.

Fuel Stations: There are two fueling stations located at the 11^th & Haskell intersection. The gas and diesel fuel station currently connects via a dial-up modem connection. The natural gas fuel station connects back to the garage via a wireless connection.

P&R Maintenance & Forestry Building: This building is located at 1050 E. 11^th Street and was recently purchased to replace the burned building used by P&R maintenance personnel. This building is connected to the City’s network via a wireless connection to Wastewater.

East Lawrence Recreation Center: The recreation center is located at 1245 E. 15^th St. Although the conduit does not run down 15^th Street, the recreation center is about 1,100 feet from the 15^th & Haskell intersection. The recreation center is currently using a broadband connection from WOW to connect to the City’s network.

Oak Hill Cemetery: This facility is located at 1605 Oak Hill Road and is the location for Park District #3 maintenance personnel. This location is currently using a broadband connection from WOW to connect to the City’s network. This location is approximately 1,000 feet beyond the East Lawrence Recreation Center.

Memorial Park Cemetery: This facility is located at 1517 E. 15^th St. This location is currently using a broadband connection from WOW to connect to the City’s network. This location is approximately 2,000 feet beyond the East Lawrence Recreation Center.

Fire Training Center: This facility is located at 1941 Haskell Avenue and is the main Training Center for the Fire Department. Extending fiber to this facility will greatly improve the Fire Department’s training capabilities and the Fire Department will be able to make better use of their new video conferencing system for training to the fire stations.

P&R Maintenance Shop: The P&R maintenance building at 1900 Moodie Road is used Park District #2 maintenance personnel. This location is currently connected to the City’s network via a cable connection from WOW.

Douglas County Fairgrounds: The City has a joint interest with Douglas County in providing a fiber connection to this facility. Douglas County uses this location as a failover site for the County’s network which supports county services. This site is used regularly by the City for various functions. This site is also an alternative Emergency Operations Center (EOC) location in case the EOC facilities at the Law Enforcement Center, Douglas County Court House, or Douglas County jail have to be evacuated or are unavailable. This site is supported by a generator and other services which makes this an ideal site for the City to help support. The County currently leases fiber from WOW to this site.

Fire Station #2: This Fire Station is located at 2128 Harper St. This location is currently using a leased T-1 1.5mb line from AT&T. A fiber connection to this facility would offer a gigabit network connection at a minimum (1.5mb vs. 1,000mb) and will allow the Fire Station to better utilize the Fire Department’s new video conferencing system.

Harper Water Tower: The Utilities Department wants to eventually install fiber to all water towers in the City. The Utilities Department leases communications line to manage the water levels of the towers, and uses another connection via Wicked Broadband to support the security camera at the site.

VenturePark: The conduit of the Dawn Fiber project will be close to the new VenturePark site. The intersection of 19^th & Harper will be close to an improved road into the site and in the future this conduit could be extended to connect to the fiber conduit being installed at the VenturePark site. This connection could become a more direct connection than the fiber on 10 Highway, but will offer a desirable redundant path to this area.

Fire & Medical Station in Baldwin City, KS: This project offers a unique opportunity to provide fiber to the City’s facility in Baldwin City that is used for ambulance services. This location is currently using a Verizon wireless connection to connect to the City’s network. This new connection would greatly improve the training capabilities that the Fire Department is currently implementing.

Fiber Rings:

The Dawn Fiber project will aid the City in developing some fiber rings (see fiber ring map) that can help the network’s reliability.

Recommendation

This project offers an opportunity to install conduit very near to nineteen City buildings or other City infrastructure and services. The labor to install conduit is typically about $15.00 a foot. The 19,000 feet of conduit that would be installed represent a savings of approximately 285,000. Additionally, with the installation of the eleven hand holds and connecting to two existing hand holes provides a total estimated savings of $300,000.

The Information Technology and Public Works Departments recommend the City Commission authorize the City Manager to sign the license agreement with Dawn Fiber, LLC d/b/a Free State Broadband.