San Ramon: City considers 10-year agreement with AT&T for small cell facilities

The San Ramon City Council on Tuesday is set to weigh a new agreement with AT&T that would establish a streamlined process for the approval of small cell wireless facilities on city property over the next decade.

The proposed master license agreement would allow AT&T to install small cell facilities on city-owned street lights and other city vertical structures for the next 10 years, plus the opportunity for two five-year renewal thereafter.

“Over the past year, AT&T and other carriers have approached city staff with requests to deploy small cell facilities on city-owned vertical infrastructure within the public right-of-way,” city attorney Martin Lysons wrote in a staff report. “Negotiating individual agreements for each and every light standard proposed to be used for small-cell siting would be too cumbersome and inefficiently consume staff time and resources.”

Lysons explained that the agreement would streamline the licensing process for approving cell facilities placement in the city through a uniform set of standards and procedures. The agreement intends to cut down on staff hours that would have dedicated to case-by-case approvals, generate consistent revenue for the city and provide residents with robust wireless broadband services.

To meet increasing demand from the public, AT&T has made plans to install approximately 31 facilities throughout the city over the next year, with additional installations to come in the following years. Small facilities have a range of 10 meters to one kilometer, according to Lysons.

To start, San Ramon would receive a payment of $750 per site, with an annual increase of 2% over the first two years of the agreement. The per-site cost will drop to $281 in the third year, but continue to increase by 2% annually after that.

AT&T will also be required to pay an upfront fee of $15,000 to offset the city’s costs to prepare, negotiate and execute the master license agreement.

The San Ramon City Council will meet to discuss this agreement at its regularly scheduled meeting, Tuesday 7 p.m., at the City Hall Council Chambers, 7000 Bollinger Canyon Road.

In other business

* The council will look to appoint recently retired public servant Jeff Gault to temporarily serve as manager of the city’s Public Services Division.

Gault retired on Dec. 30 after a 30-year career with San Ramon — 17-1/2 of which was spent as the public services division manager. He will look to continue to serve in the position for an additional three to six months, depending on how long it takes to find a permanent replacement.

If approved, Gault will be working on a part-time basis and will not be earning any additional benefits or compensation beyond his hourly salary.

The public services division manager is tasked with managing the day-to-day operations of the following programs: facilities, parks, landscaping, lighting, streets/drainage/signals, and fleet/equipment maintenance, and solid waste, as well as a variety of other tasks.

Applications for a permanent successor will be accepted by the city until Jan. 14.

* The council will select from among their ranks members to serve as liaisons on various city committees and foundations, as well as regional ones such as the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, the Southwest Area Transportation Committee and the Tri-Valley Transportation Council.

* A council member will be selected from among the council to serve as Mayor Bill Clarkson’s vice mayor for 2019.