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City Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday on an ordinance that would grant a license agreement for Cox Communications to build, install and maintain telecommunications services for its business services in Suffolk.

If approved, Cox would receive a non-exclusive telecommunications license agreement for up to five years.

Cox’s Erin Rice spoke to council during its Sept. 21 work session, noting it has had a presence in the city, but primarily in the northern areas before it invested $3.5 million to install nearly 30 miles of fiber to provide 10 gigabit speed while extending its footprint to other areas of the city. That project was completed in the spring.

In other items for council to consider, a pair of ordinances in council’s consent agenda would allow Suffolk Police to purchase a new boat and bulletproof vests from grant money it has received.

Suffolk Police Department is set to receive $218,988 in port security grant money from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase a SAFE boat to “enhance resilience and recovery capabilities in the city on its waters and Hampton Roads.”

It requires a city match of $70,329, or 25% of its cost of $281,317.

The city’s police department has also received a grant worth nearly $21,000 to purchase bulletproof vests for its officers. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Also on the consent agenda, Suffolk Public Schools has asked council’s approval to reappropriate nearly $400,000 in unspent money from fiscal 2022 to the division’s fiscal 2023 school operating fund to help with sinkhole repairs at school facilities.

The city has also been approved for $710,500 in funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Economic Development Access Road Program to allow for the extension of the access road on Enterprise Drive in the Virginia Port Logistics Park to support a 1.5 million-square-foot import center. That grant requires a $10,500 local cash match, available through a transfer from the general fund economic development investment program account.

The work session will feature updates on the city’s Parks and Recreation Department’s accreditation and projects, and information about an upcoming Public Works Department Citizen Academy to take place from Oct. 13 through Nov. 17.

The council’s full agenda can be found at https://www.suffolkva.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10052022-2931.

The council’s work session begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday, with the regular meeting starting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.