City Council Minutes 2006 03 07 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes March 7, 2006 Page 9 of 16 City, the Council could administratively designate the equipment however they wish, but with respect to the designation of PEG or franchise fees, it would require a different legislative action. Council member Muckle voiced his concern over the cable provider using fallow time on access channels. He also was concerned with the requirement to fill regular programming hours up to 80% with locally produced programs before another channel could be added. He requested a return line to a new studio. Richard Jennings, Vice-President and General Manager of Comcast, thanked the City Council and the negotiating team for their time. He voiced his appreciation for the passionate comments expressed by the speakers. He addressed the ability to get another channel, and explained an additional channel would require an 80% capacity of the first channel, and a waiting period of 150 days. With respect to return lines to a new studio, Comcast would consider this however it would be at the City's expense to maintain a second line. Council member Sackett noted all the public speakers, in some ways, support the passage of the Ordinance for the franchise agreement. He stated the City negotiated the best agreement possible. He voiced his support of the ordinance. Mayor Sisk commented the City had many public meetings and had a negotiation team who was dutiful in listening to public comment. He stated there were other issues other than public access that were addressed. He agreed the City negotiated the best agreement possible. He reported a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be available in two weeks, for the provider of citizen access services, based on a Louisville core group, providing for Louisville. He supported the franchise agreement and voiced his appreciation to the negotiation team and to Comcast. He stated it would be inappropriate to pre-commit PEG fees as part of the Franchise Agreement. He thanked Council member Muckle and Assistant City Manager Balser for their work on the franchise agreement. Randy Luallin, 301 East Street, Louisville, CO disagreed with the comments of Mr. Fellman. He referred to Mr. Fellman's statement the Federal Cable Act of 1996 prohibits City's requesting a studio and stated nothing in the Federal Cable Act of 1996 prohibits asking for a studio. He stated the Federal Government no longer requires those items as a mandate of the Federal Government, but the City could have made those requests pursuant to the United States Constitution. He stated Comcast repeatedly violated the current franchise agreement. John Stadler, 210 Hoover Avenue, Louisville, CO stated he is a CCTV volunteer and also produces the Tuesday Blues Program. He thanked Council and Comcast for their support and asked Council to consider waiving any building fees for the new studio.