2020-041 Council Resolution - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • CITY OF LINO LAKES RESOLUTION NO. 20-41 RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE PROTECT COMMUNITY TELEVISION ACT WHEREAS, the City of Lino Lakes is a member of the North Metro Telecommunications Commission (the "Commission"), a Joint Powers Commission organized pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 471.59, as amended, and includes the municipalities of Ham Lake, Spring Lake Park, Blaine, Lexington, Circle Pines, Centerville and Lino Lakes, Minnesota (collectively the "Member Cities"); and WHEREAS, the Commission negotiates and manages the cable franchises agreements of the Member Cities and operates North Metro TV, the local community public educational and governmental ("PEG") access facility on behalf of the Member Cities; and WHEREAS, North Metro TV provides coverage of local events, such as local high school sporting events and most government meetings that local broadcast stations (i.e. WCCO, KSTP, KMSP, and KARE) typically will not cover, and in light of a rapidly decreasing print media, North Metro TV is the principal, and may soon be the sole, source for local residents to have access to coverage of local events; and WHEREAS, North Metro TV is funded through franchise fee and PEG fee revenues negotiated in the cable franchise agreements; and WHEREAS, the Member Cities require, as part of the cable franchise agreements, that cable companies meet demonstrated community needs by providing non -monetary in -kind contributions that benefit the Member Cities, local schools, public safety buildings, as well as North Metro TV; and WHEREAS, in 1984 Congress defined a franchise fee as a "tax, fee, or assessment" and, for the past 35 years, it has been solely a monetary fee; and WHEREAS, last year the FCC departed from the clear language of the Cable Act and ruled that a franchise fee is both a monetary and non -monetary fee and permits cable companies to unilaterally assign a value to the non -monetary in -kind contributions and then subtract that amount from the franchise fees the cable operator pays the local community; and WHEREAS, the FCC order results in decreased vital funding to the Member Cities and North Metro TV; and WHEREAS, the Protect Community Television Act (currently S. 3218/HR 5659) has been introduced in Congress and its goal is to maintain the status quo by reversing the FCC order and allowing franchise fees to be calculated as they have been for over 35 years as monetary only fees; and