To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County of Sonoma
Staff Name and Phone Number: John Walsh 565-8253 and Dan Fruchey 565-2703
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Sonic Service Agreement for High-Speed Business Fiber service to the 2615 Paulin Drive building.
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Approve the indemnification language in Section 6 of the Sonic Services Agreement.
B) Delegate authority to County Counsel to approve future agreements with the same indemnification language for Sonic services.
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Executive Summary:
The Information Systems Department (ISD) has contracted with Sonic.net (Sonic), a local Sonoma County Internet Service Provider (ISP), to provide high-speed fiber service at the department's 2615 Paulin Drive location. A construction agreement was executed by Sonic and the Sonoma County Purchasing Agent in June 2025 to connect the Sonic data network to the County data network for Internet services.
This item before your Board requests approval of the indemnification language included in the agreement for this service. The monthly cost for the Sonic circuit (approximately $2,880 per month) is below the department head purchasing authority and would not normally require Board approval. However, pursuant to County Counsel's recommendation, ISD is seeking Board approval of the indemnification language in Section 6 of the Sonic Services Agreement.
The Paulin Drive connection represents part of a strategic plan to first establish a 10Gb Internet service for immediate cost savings, and in the future, to expand data network services using Sonic's fiber backbone. Using these Sonic services, ISD will be positioned to extend dark fiber, which provides private and high-speed connectivity for voice, video, and Internet services, to additional County facilities. With particular emphasis on the North County Campus near the Airport, the benefits of high-speed, low-cost, and resilient fiber connectivity will be most significant at the following potential locations:
* 3850 Brickway Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 3880 Brickway Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 463 Aviation Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 433 Aviation Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 400 Aviation Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 133 Aviation Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 1247 Century Ct., Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 3725 Westwind Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
* 2290 Airport Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Discussion:
ISD has engaged with Sonic to provide low-cost, high-bandwidth network services throughout Sonoma County. This engagement will allow ISD to reduce operating costs for internet and fiber services, enhance resiliency by diversifying network paths and providers, and support local investment by partnering with a Sonoma County-based Internet Service Provider.
The approach is designed as a phased strategy:
* Phase 1 establishes the foundation by connecting ISD's data center at 2615 Paulin Drive to Sonic's 10Gb Internet service. This connection ties ISD directly into Sonic's backbone, providing immediate cost savings of approximately $2,137 per month
* Phase 2 builds on that foundation by extending Sonic's dark fiber to other County facilities. Once Paulin Drive is connected, ISD will be able to leverage this backbone access to create private, high-speed fiber connections between County buildings.
By sequencing these steps, ISD ensures that the immediate need at Paulin Drive is met while also positioning the County to pursue a long-term vision of resilient, scalable, and cost-effective fiber infrastructure.
Step 1: High-Speed Internet at Paulin Drive
The immediate need is at 2615 Paulin Drive, where Sonic will provide a 10Gb Internet circuit at $2,880 per month, compared to the current Comcast circuit at $5,017.96 per month. This results in monthly savings of $2,137.96, while delivering equal performance. Establishing this connection to Sonic's backbone creates the foundation for expanding fiber services countywide.
Step 2: Future Expansion with Fiber Connectivity
Once Paulin Drive is connected, ISD can leverage Sonic's dark fiber services to interconnect other County buildings. The North County Campus near the Airport represents the most beneficial opportunity for expansion. Having dark fiber connectivity will give County employees at this campus 40 times faster performance for their business applications, communications, and Internet needs.
Below is the current ISD offering for network connectivity compared to Sonic's dark fiber offering:
* Current Metro Ethernet:
o $355/month for 25 Mbps
o $650/month for 250 Mbps
* Proposed Sonic Fiber:
o $400-650/month for 10,000 Mbps (10 Gb)
This step represents ISD's vision of moving from costly, limited-speed Metro Ethernet to high-capacity dark fiber. This infrastructure will improve resiliency, support disaster recovery, and prepare the County for cloud adoption and emerging technology needs.
Governance and Future Agreements
During negotiations, Sonic indicated it would not amend its indemnification language to align with County Counsel's standard terms. Although County Counsel does not generally endorse indemnification of vendors, counsel has determined that the risks in doing so are low and that the benefits to the County are significant. This item is required to come to the board, as County Counsel does not have delegated authority to approve contracts that result in the County taking on additional risk.
ISD anticipates entering into additional service agreements with Sonic for other County locations. Accordingly, ISD requests Board approval to delegate authority to County Counsel to execute future agreements with Sonic containing the same indemnification language. This authority will ensure ISD can act quickly to expand cost-effective, high-performance connectivity across the County. County Counsel and ISD have partnered on these recommended actions and will continue to work collaboratively on future agreements that may contain indemnification terms and conditions.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County's Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Resilient Infrastructure
Goal: Goal 1: Strengthen operational effectiveness, fiscal reliability, and accountability
Objective: Objective 1: Strengthen critical communications infrastructure, interoperability, and information technology tools relied upon during disasters.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
None
FISCAL SUMMARY
Expenditures
FY25-26 Adopted
FY26-27 Projected
FY27-28 Projected
Budgeted Expenses
NA
Additional Appropriation Requested
Total Expenditures
NA
Funding Sources
General Fund/WA GF
State/Federal
Fees/Other
Use of Fund Balance
General Fund Contingencies
Total Sources
NA
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
None
Staffing Impacts:
Position Title (Payroll Classification)
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step)
Additions (Number)
Deletions (Number)
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
1. Sonic Service Agreement
2. Sonic Service Agreement Terms and Conditions
3. Potential Sonic Dark Fiber Map at North County Campus
Related Items "On File" with the Clerk of the Board:
None