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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 12, 2026 5 Councilmember Holden said we need fiber in the City. She thinks anyone installing should get the franchise agreement and then come to the City for the ROW permit. Councilmember Weber agrees. We pay Nine North with the fees we get from cable. As cable dries up, we need to keep those fees coming in so we can keep providing the television service for residents. He said he has Comcast at his home. They are exempt from these rules because they are considered a telecom company, even on the broadband side. Century Link has Lumen who installs their internet. That's two different companies. We could theoretically send Lumen to get a franchise agreement but we can't do that for Comcast. Comcast is already here. If we have someone here already who doesn't have to get a franchise agreement, that gives them an advantage. Comcast may not be exempt forever, things can change. He just wanted everyone to be aware of that possible advantage for certain companies. He would like Staff to reach out to the County to see if they will notify when fiber permits are being installed on their ROWS. That is fiber coming into our City. They may hit a few houses on the County road and skip right through our city. He doesn't know if the County is amenable to that or if their software allows for it. Hennepin County is able to do it. Councilmember Monson said she lives off a County Road and has fiber. She said Lumen has a lot of infrastructure already. What does that mean? Do they have fiber infrastructure? Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen believes the infrastructure referenced in the memo is for existing conduit in the ground. He doesn't believe there is fiber in there. Councilmember Monson said if they have infrastructure, that's not fiber, they would still have to go back for the franchise fee. She supports this. Mayor Grant said we need to get in front of this and we should do this. He is in support of it. Councilmember Holden asked what the cost is for a franchise agreement. City Administrator Jagoe said that would go through the Communications Commission. There wouldn't be any cost to the City. Councilmember Holden said she was asking what the cost would be to the business. One of the reasons people are bailing on Comcast is because of their poor customer service. She hears that over and over again. If the franchise fee for them is going to be large, it does make a significant difference to people who can't afford higher end things. City Administrator Jagoe doesn't know that answer. She said Mike Bradley is going to speak at the council meetings of two of the other cities. It is possible to request Mike Bradley attend our February meeting to answer questions. Discussion ensued that it may be negotiated individually and it isn't necessary to have him come to a work session. We have a member on the communications commission who can gather that information. Councilmember Weber said the cost is negotiated. He knows Woodbury got 5% of the internet bill. That's how we can save this service. Mayor Grant said seeing no opposition to this, he directed Staff to move on this as soon as possible.