Agenda Packets - 1996/09/23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM August 9, 1996 • Page 4 franchise authority cannot unreasonably withhold such approval. Minnesota law also arguably requires a shorter review period than the 120 days. In any event, we have opined that it is more probable than not that the federal statutory time of 120 days preempts those state statutory timelines which are inconsistent with the federal timelines. Exhibit 1 also indicates that US West has waived objection to the review process of Authorities which may have conflicted with state procedural timelines. It should also be noted that the Hudson/North Hudson and South Washington County deadlines were extended by agreement of counsel for US West to be the same as the negotiated deadlines for the previous Meredith systems. ' 2. STANDARD OF REVIEW. The Authority's task in this process is to review the information provided regarding the transfer and to approve or deny the transfer to US West. The Authorities have the express right to approve or disapprove such a transfer. The standard of review is that the Authority's consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. For the purpose of determining whether it will consent to the transfer, the Authority has attempted to make inquiry into the legal, technical and financial qualifications of US West, a well as other appropriate factors. During such inquiry, it was evident that a subsidiary of US West would own and control the Continental systems, although that subsidiary became a moving target and, as discussed later, is still not entirely identified as of the drafting of this report. Therefore, at times this analysis encompasses not only US West, Inc., but various subsidiaries which may own and control the cable systems serving the •