CC Minutes - 10/15/07 Public Hearing

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that the consortium had no ability to create a financial obligation for Eugene, but blurring the separation could pose greater financial risk for the City. Ms. Bettman asserted that she found the language related to the consortium's authority to enter into contracts and expend funds confusing. She said she had no context for the amount of money that might be involved in ten years. She asked how much revenue staff projected might be generated by the City of Eugene and go directly to the consortium in the future. Mr. Mecham said that the amount would be zero, as the consortium would not have access to any funds from the City of Eugene without the City of Eugene's prior approval. 4. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Granting Comcast of Oregon II, Inc., an Additional Term and Franchise Renewal for the Operation of a Cable Communications System; Amend- ing Ordinance 19775; Adopting a Severability Clause; and Providing an Effective Date Ms. Berrian related that the City's cable television franchise was a contract with Comcast granting permission to use the City's public rights-of-way for commercial television activities. She said City code, federal law and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rules governed franchise agreements. She mentioned that complaints related to programming, channel changes and most rate increases were outside the purview of local governments and the responsibility of the FCC and Congress. She reviewed the history of the cable television franchise and said Eugene, Springfield and Lane County had worked together to develop separate but identical franchises and that regional approach had worked well for resolving issues. Ms. Berrian stated that the current franchise was 15-years-old and would sunset in July 2008. She was proposing a renewed agreement that contained provisions that in her opinion would likely have been validated and put in place by a formal process, but without the cost of that formal process. She said City Council adoption of an ordinance was necessary to enact that type of contract. While many of the desired current provisions would be retained she highlighted some components of the new agreement including $20,000 in matching funds from Comcast for a downtown build out, provision of several additional no-cost basic service television connections to publicly owned buildings, provision of a fourth access channel for Public Safety Training and an additional annual payment from Comcast of a $50,000 Capital Contribution for public education and government access channels. She reviewed a number of other provisions and said the new agreement served the public interest and did not provide Comcast exclusive rights to the Eugene market since other providers were welcome to obtain Franchise to market services in the community. She did not believe that further negotiations would result in significant gains. Ms. Piercy opened the public hearing. There being no one wishing to testify, she closed the hearing. Ms. Taylor asked if the City could find another provider. Ms. Berrian replied that rights-of-way had always been open to other providers but another provider had not come forward, likely due to the infrastructure expense. Ms. Taylor noted that basic cable services had been reduced again while rates were increased. She said if those things were outside the City's control, perhaps another provider could be sought. She asked about the consequences if the franchise agreement was not renewed. Ms. Berrian said if the proposal was not accepted a formal renewal process established under federal rules would have to be undertaken; if the council chose not to renew after that formal process, none of the provisions she highlighted in the agreement would exist. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 15, 2007 Page 9 Public Hearing