The Eudora City Commission on Monday tabled a request from the CEO of a gigabit fiber-optic cable provider to not assess a penalty should the company miss a key deadline.

RG Fiber CEO Mike Bosch asked the commission not to assess the liquidated damages provision in the company’s license agreement with the city. The provision dating to the official start of the agreement 15 months ago requires the Baldwin City-based RG Fiber to make payment of $1,250 if the company doesn’t meet obligations to the city by July 27. Specifically, RG Fiber is to install four strands of gigabit fiber to Eudora City Hall and the Eudora Public Service Building and connect service to one of the buildings.

Sixteen days before that deadline date, Bosch told commissioners his company had been unable to secure a permit from the city to start installing cable in Eudora. He said RG Fiber submitted several sets of plans for a permit based off requirements posted on the city website, only to have them rejected as insufficient.

The basis for those rejections involved such things as failing to draw property lines with black ink, providing maps of the proper scale or identifying that scale, Bosch said. The problem was not about the city’s requirements, but the “lack of transparency” of unwritten rules, he said.

RG Fiber started working with the city in May to secure the permit, Bosch said. Based on RG Fiber’s past experience, that should have been enough time to meet the license agreement’s requirements, he said. The company installed cable from Lawrence to downtown Baldwin City in 60 days, he noted.

City Commissioners discussed the possibility of giving RG Fiber 60 days to provide service to the city after a permit was issued before enforcing the liquidated damages provision. However, it was agreed to table any decision until the commission’s July 25 meeting, giving RG Fiber time to clear up any remaining issues with city staff and secure a permit.

Bosch said RG Fiber would honor its service commitment with the city and one it made with the Eudora school district regardless of any decision from the commission. However, he said it was unknown at present how much the company could extend service to the rest of the community because he didn’t know the cost of complying with the city’s permit requirement.

Eudora interim City Manager Barack Matite said city staff would continue to work with Bosch and his representatives.

“Staff is not requiring something more of this company than we do of any other company,” he said. “We’re willing to work with Mr. Bosch. There’s no way we are trying to make it difficult or prevent the permit process from moving forward.”

In other business, the City Commission:

• Discussed with Tammy Somogye, the city’s personnel attorney, the need to update the city employee handbook to reflect changes in the state’s open carry law, which took effect July 1. It was agreed Somogye would present language at the July 25 meeting establishing the right of employees to concealed carry, but stating carrying a concealed weapon was not within the “course or scope” of employment and that discharging the gun could have consequences.

• Received an update from Joseph Hurla, vice president with Willdan Energy Solutions, on progress of the city’s energy audit and wireless water metering installation. All city street lights have been upgraded to more energy efficient LED lighting except those decorative lamps downtown and in Meadowlark subdivision, Hurla said. More efficient lighting and thermostats have also been installed in City Hall, the recreation center gym and other sites, he said.

Sixty percent of the city’s approximately 2,500 water meters have been replaced with state-of-the art meters that wirelessly send customer-use information to computers in City Hall, Hurla said. The pace of that work that started in the spring should pick up as crews move from the older sections of Eudora. There were about 300 pit meters in older neighborhoods, which require more time to change, he said. The changeover should be complete by the end of August, he said.