AgdaPkt 2005-11-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6. 4/1-/ REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager November 14, 2005 Subject Ordinance approving an amendment to extend the Comcast cable television franchise (retroactive to October 31,2005) for a period not to exceed three months (expiring no later than January 30, 2006) allowing Comcast to continue to operate a cable television system in Redwood City during final franchise renewal negotiations. Recommendation Introduce an ordinance approving an amendment to extend the Comcast cable television franchise (retroactive to October 31, 2005) for a period not to exceed three months (expiring no later than January 30, 2006). Background In 1991 the City Council approved a Cable TV Franchise Agreement with TCI (which later became AT&T Broadband, and then Comcast) for a period of 12 years. Redwood City has been working with six other cities and the County on a group franchise renewal process, as the San Mateo County Telecommunications Authority (SAMCA T). This process has included a technical audit, legal review, and community needs assessment of cable TV services and needs in Redwood City and the other local governments. This group process continues to be beneficial to Redwood City since it enables us to share resources in hiring contract legal and technical assistance at a fraction of the cost of contracting individually. The negotiations have taken longer than expected due to both the need to negotiate a settlement on the AT&T /Comcast merger and transfer of operations, and to ongoing negotiations related to contract term, interconnections, and other issues. The Council has granted several extensions to the franchise agreement to accommodate the continuing process (February 10th, 2003; October 2ih, 2003; January 1ih, 2004; and September 27th, 2004). Currently, the draft franchise agreement has been accepted in large part by all parties. However, there are several small revisions, corrections, and minor amendments that must be implemented prior to bringing the draft agreement to the City Council for consideration. Since the current extension expired as of October 30,2005, this final extension is necessary to provide sufficient time to finalize the details of the agreement. It is therefore expected that the final draft franchise agreement will be brought to the Council no later than January 30, 2006. Alternative The Council could choose not to introduce this ordinance approYing an amendment to extend the Comcast cable television franchise; however this would jeopardize the franchise renewal negotiations and potentially impact cable television service in Redwood City.