05/05/2008 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Process Going Forward. If the City proceeds on the above basis, the goal would be to have uniform franchises in place for all utilities and a ROW Management Ordinance governing all franchised and non - franchised utilities. Uniform franchise fees could be collected as of a certain date and the City would establish a comprehensive, sustaining management and fee recovery system. Because the franchise process requires utility consent (subject to City rights) and because there are multiple utilities to deal with, this process may take several months. With cooperation from utilities, however, the City could have new franchises in place with equal collection of fees across City ratepayers as early as September 1, 2008. If impasses occur in the franchise negotiation, the process becomes more complicated in deciding whether to compromise or enter into different agreements with different utilities, or enforce City rights in court. Some of the issues that have resulted in impasse and potential impasse between cities and utilities, are as follows: 1. Length of franchise. Cities tend to prefer shorter periods than utilities seek. (See, Xcel proposed Section 2.1). 2. Limitation on city ROW management rights. These types of issues are evidenced in the Xcel- proposed new electric franchise, which I do not recommend the City adopt. (See, e.g., 3.1 (limits scope and priority of City Utility System); 3.4 (does not incorporate proper ROW restoration rules); 4.1 (does not incorporate full City relocation authority and establishes a reimbursement policy for relocations within five years); 5 (does not restrict Xcel tree trimming rights). There are other provisions in the Xcel proposal that I would not recommend the City adopt for a 20 -year franchise. 3. Franchise fees. There are numerous issues between utilities and cities on franchise fees, e.g., maximum amount of fee, fee apportionment amongst residents and businesses, fee design, fee permit plus franchise fee collection, permit fees in addition to franchise fees, city right to amend, collection of equal amount from other utilities. It is likely that the City will find that some of the utilities are more amenable to City- oriented franchise terms than are other utilities. This can bog down the process, especially when the franchise ordinance is necessary for the utility to be willing to collect a fee. Thus, except for the ROW Management Ordinance that can be passed unilaterally by the City, the franchise processes discussed above may either be implemented relatively quickly with little effort and or be the subject of disagreement resulting in an involved process of addressing multiple utility positions. If you have any questions, please contact me. I would be happy to elaborate on any of the points above. 332569v1 1MS KG400 -3 3