City Council Minutes 2015 05 05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes May 5, 2015 Page 9 of 33 Council member Leh disclosed one of his wife's legal clients is Comcast. He recused himself and left the room. Council member Stolzmann felt residents would be upset if Comcast was not granted a franchise. She was interested in looking at effective competition sometime in the future. She felt it may provide a way to assist low income and seniors by having the City control the basic cable packages. Council member Lipton commended the negotiation team on their work. He noted it is difficult to negotiate with all the limitations prescribed from the federal jurisdictions. He stated Council must be realistic on what can and cannot be done. He was comfortable moving forward with approving the franchise agreement. Mayor Muckle concurred. Council member Lipton commented over the next decade the technologies will change and there will be more options available to Louisville residents in terms of how they receive broadband and internet. He felt the City should review the ordinances on cell towers and antennas to ensure the community is prepared to adopt and accept some of the new technologies in the future. This would give Comcast more competition. Mayor Muckle inquired whether the PEG fees will be enough to support Channel 8 and any other channels. Public Relations Manager Muth stated the PEG fees will be sufficient enough to support Channel 8. She reported hearing there may be a request for Channel 54 (public) funding. Mayor Muckle asked if there is precedence for changing the PEG fee rate if or when another public channel requests funding. Special Counsel Nancy Rodgers explained the PEG fees are not established by channel. The 50 cents per household is fairly standard for this fee. She had not seen anyone negotiate an additional PEG feey Andy Davis, Comcast Director of Governmental Affairs explained PEG fees are specific for equipment and hardware. It is not for operations. If there was a point when the City wanted to revisit the PEG fees, Comcast would be w illing to discuss. Mayor Muckle called for public comment and hearing none, closed the public hearing. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton thanked Council member Lipton for his comments and expressed his appreciation to Meredyth Muth and Nancy Rodgers for their work on the franchise negotiations. He noted, even though Comcast was slow in responding to the teams' questions, they did respond and he thanked Andy Davis also. ORDINANCE No. 1685, SERIES 2015