08-26-1998 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JULY 8, 1998 CABLE TV FRANCHISE Fahey pointed out that at the last Council meeting two issues of concern were raised in considering the renewal of the Cable TV franchise. Those issues dealt with the undergrounding of cable and the City's rights in the event of abandonment of cable plant. In response to those concerns, the City Attorney reviewed his memo dated July 2 "d. The Attorney pointed out that Section 3, Subdivision 4 of the Franchise Ordinance provides that cable facilities would be required underground if all other utilities are underground. However, there is no provision in the franchise ordinance requiring cable facilities underground if other utilities are not. Section 2302.250 of the City's Rights -Of -Way Ordinance requires new utility construction and the replacement of old equipment to be underground unless otherwise provided in the existing Franchise Ordinance. Therefore, the Franchise Agreement appears to be the operative ordinance. The Attorney also pointed out that the term "abandonment" is not really defined in the Franchise Agreement, and the Rights -Of -Way Ordinance refers to abandonment as equipment that has not been used for two years. John Gibbs, attorney representing Media One, appeared before the Council and stated that Media One understands that it is their obligation to put the Cable TV plant underground in the event other utilities go underground. Gibbs indicated that as part of the upgrade of the Cable TV system, there will not be much abandoned plant, and if the City requires this plant to be removed, the company would be willing to do it. Gibbs pointed out there will be a bond in place to assure that this is done. However, there are times that due to safety concerns and disruption concerns it is better to leave abandoned plant in place. Gibbs indicated that Media One accepts that the Franchise Ordinance and the Rights -Of -Way Ordinance are two separate documents which are not perfectly worded, and offered to address the issue of the interpretation of abandonment in a letter to the City. Gibbs reported that in upgrading the Cable TV system, Media One is changing out the electronics of the system. The coaxial cable is still necessary for the operation of the system after the upgrade. The coaxial cable is still necessary for the system to work. Fiber is being added to the system, but the'coaxial cable will not be abandoned. With regard to the issue of abandonment, Fahey suggested that the franchise agreement provide for notice from Media One if a portion of the system is being abandoned, i.e. is not being used for transmission purposes. Additionally, the franchise agreement could provide the City with the authority to require removal on a discretionary basis given there may be circumstances where it would be better to not require utilities to dig up boulevards. Page 24