8.4. SR 09-04-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk REQUEST FOR ACTION River TO ITEM NUMBER Mayor and City Council 8.4 AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY General Business September 4, 2012 Bob Pearson, IT manager ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By Award of Construction Bid—Backbone Fiber Optic Ring Tim Simon, Finance director REVIEWED BY Cal Portner, City Administrator ACTION REQUESTED • Adopt the attached resolution awarding the Backbone Fiber Optic Ring Project to Michels Corporation in the amount of$268,721.24 and authorize the execution of the contract. • Authorize the city attorney to draft a usage agreement for the city, county,and ERMU. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION At the work session on August 6, 2012, staff discussed an opportunity to take part in the building of a fiber optic ring in Elk River. Staff had embarked on a strategic plan to build a fiber network that would connect all city facilities to improve data capacity and function. At the August meeting, staff presented preliminary estimates for a project that would include a partnership with ERMU and the county. The project estimates exceeded the state bid law minimum of$100,000. With a desire to build a redundant ring of fiber, city and ERMU staff prepared to go to bid on the project in accordance with the state bid law. The backbone will originate from the public safety building data center. The ring design is made up of 144 strands of fiber. The plan is for a 48-strand ring to go west from the city hall campus and 96 strands to go east of the city hall campus. Please refer to the attached drawing. As we mentioned before the intention of this network is for connecting government and utility facilities. It is interesting to note a number of other cities and counties investing in fiber to connect their facilities: • Anoka County has almost completed a $19 million project connecting 145 public institutions. • Prior Lake is considering a$28 million project that would require bonding of about$35 million. It would provide a wide array of high-speed telecommunications services to residents,businesses, schools and health care providers, as well as local government. • The Elk River school district and the City of Rogers did a similar partnership in 2010. Staff prepared plans and advertised the Backbone Fiber Optic Ring Project. Construction bids were received on Wednesday,August 29, 2012. There were a total of two bids received which are summarized as follows: Michels Corporation $268,721.24 TD &I Cable Maintenance, Inc. $445,729.53 p0WIe10 0 1`4AT' URE1