12.35.030 General Provisions.
A. Minimum Duration of Service Provision. Broadband system development created consistent within the provisions of this Chapter shall be initiated within six months of the approval of the Broadband Development Incentives Program Agreement and completed based on the timeframe specified in the Agreement. Thereafter, once the project is completed, the service provider must make service available to the households and businesses specified for a minimum of ten years and in compliance with all other relevant terms of the applicable Franchise and applicable law. If the applicable Franchise has less than ten years of its duration remaining, the County shall renew or extend that Franchise for a period of time sufficient for the service provider to fulfill its ten-year obligation; provided, that the service provider is in substantial compliance with the requirements of the Franchise and applicable law at the time of the renewal or extension.
B. Broadband Development Incentives Program Agreement. A proposed project that seeks to utilize any of the incentives in this Chapter shall not be issued permits or receive necessary County approvals until the applicant has submitted a signed Broadband Development Incentives Program Agreement with the Planning and Public Works Department. The agreement shall include, but not be limited to:
1. Identification of all the incentives – monetary, non-financial, and regulatory – that the project proposes to incorporate;
2. Identification of the minimum number of households and businesses that the project proposes to make service available to;
3. The timeframe in which broadband service will be made available to the proposed number of households and businesses;
4. Binding language that protects the County's interests in the event that a broadband service provider obtains the incentives but fails to make available broadband service to the designated households and businesses;
5. Language that specifies the documentation that will be provided prior to the approval of necessary permits to develop that portion of an applicant's broadband system that incorporates the stipulated financial and regulatory incentives;
6. Language that recognizes the need to possibly modify the Agreement if the submitted project requires alteration throughout the design, review, approval, and implementation process; and
7. Language that stipulates the conditions of a breach of contract if the applicant fails to make broadband service available to the designated number of households and businesses stipulated under the Agreement.
C. Monitoring Continued Compliance of the Agreement. The Planning and Public Works Department shall be the responsible party to monitor both the implementation and continued provision of service availability to designated households and businesses during the term of the Agreement.
D. Annual Report. An annual report shall be forwarded to the Pierce County Council prior to the budgeting process that provides details on all the projects that utilized the provisions of this Chapter. The report shall include, but is not limited to, the total number of households and businesses where broadband service that was previously unavailable has been made available.
E. Participation Measure. The Planning and Public Works Department shall review the effectiveness of this Chapter as part of the periodic Comprehensive Plan update and may recommend modifications to the incentives, eligibility threshold, fee waiver and reduction, distribution, and applicability to increase participation and achieve broadband development goals within underserved and unserved areas in the County.