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<br />October 22, 2018, Work Session – Item 3 <br />Eugene, Springfield and Lane County staff have been negotiating the renewal terms with Comcast for the past year and have provided progress updates to the MPC, acting as the Cable Commission. Delays in negotiations occurred while staff tried to resolve a dispute with Comcast arising from a franchise fee review the jurisdictions conducted. That resulted in staff simultaneously dealing with fee review issues for the current franchise, and also trying to negotiate policy and operational terms for the franchise renewal. Comcast also postponed meetings and work due to loss of Oregon Comcast staff. Staff remained optimistic that an agreement would be reached this summer or shortly thereafter and requested only a short extension of the current franchise until January 1, 2019. Council approved this short-term extension in July 2018. The October 4, 2018, MPC/Cable Commission meeting packet outlined the results of the negotiations to date. Attachment A is the table of negotiation issues, many of which have been tentatively agreed upon. However, after the printing of that packet, two major hurdles were identified that are not likely to be resolved by the current sunset date of January 1, 2019. Lane Council of Governments staff highlighted those issues at the October 4 meeting, which are: 1. Comcast has proposed “competitive equity” language that would apply to more providers than cable operators and would require the jurisdictions to either impose certain franchise obligations on those other providers or excuse Comcast from its franchise obligations. Jurisdictional staff have been advised by their legal counsel that the jurisdictions do not have authority under applicable federal, state and local laws to impose such franchise obligations on those other providers. Jurisdictional staff informed Comcast of this and also reviewed, discussed and offered edits that would have resulted in a legally-defensible provision. To date, Comcast has rejected the edits. 2. On September 25, 2018, the FCC approved a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule-Making regarding cable franchising that if adopted as proposed would have implications for the new franchise. The notice means that the FCC will continue to revisit a failed industry-initiated attempt to allow cable providers to reduce franchise fees paid to local jurisdictions for providing gratis cable benefits. There is now a formal Comment and Reply period regarding the proposed rule. Examples from our current franchise that may be subject to the fee offset are: 1) the gratis TV programming provided to City buildings that has provided access to 24-hour news and weather and CSPAN for City Departments and 2) the four Community TV channels provided for Public Access (Channel 29); Education (Channel 23), Government (Channel 21) use, and the internal Eugene-Springfield Fire Training channel. <br />• At this early stage, staff do not know the full extent or financial impact from these potential changes as it is unclear how the services will be defined or valued. The potential adverse financial impact may have material adverse implications for the General Fund and a franchise renewal approved before the FCC takes final action will not likely protect the jurisdictions from a future adverse FCC ruling. <br />• The jurisdictions believe additional information about the impact of any potential franchise fee reimbursement or offset is critical before agreeing to a new 10-year franchise term. At the October 4, 2018, MPC/Cable Commission meeting, staff recommended an 18-month extension of the current franchise, which Comcast does not oppose. The extension would allow