Appointment of Cable Franchise Renewal Negotiating Team
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CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
MEMORANDUM
November 10, 1999
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Appointment of Cable Franchise Renewal Negotiating Team
The current cable franchise agreement with AT&T Cable Services expires on
September 30, 2001. Cable Franchise Administrator Merrill Crawford is
recommending that the following be appointed to the negotiating team for a new
agreement:
Cable TV Regulatory Commission Chair Charles Ellis
Corporation Counsel Barry Lindahl
Assistant City Attorney Tim O'Brien
Administrative Services Manager Pauline Joyce
Cable Franchise Administrator Merrill Crawford
Representative of Miller and Van Eaton Law Firm
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
MCVM/j
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Tim Moerman, Assistant City Manager
CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
MEMORANDUM
November 3,1999
MEMO TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Merrill Crawford, Cable Franchise Administrator&---"c,--
SUBJECT: Appointment of Cable Franchise Renewal Negotiating Team
INTRODUCTION: The purpose ofthis memorandum is to recommend appointment of a
negotiating team to represent the City of Dubuque in cable franchise renewal negotiations with
AT&T Cable Services.
BACKGROUND: The current cable franchise agreement, embodied in City of Dubuque
Ordinance No. 42-81, expires September 30, 2001. Federal law prescribes a dual-track process
(labeled "formal" and "informal"), with which the City and the cable operator must comply as we
negotiate the terms of franchise renewal. Certain key aspects of these processes are quite
different from the methodology we followed in our last franchise renewal, in 1981.
The City Council has authorized the use of the Miller & VanEaton law firm of Washington,
D.C. to assist with the negotiation process and with the detailed ascertainment study of future
cable-related needs. Miller & VanEaton attorneys have also been working on a new umbrella-
form cable franchise ordinance for the City which will facilitate not only the AT&T Cable
Services renewal, but also competing cable franchise agreements we may negotiate with
McLeodUSA or other companies.
The next step is for the City to identify and empower its negotiating team for the cable franchise
renewal process, which can be expected to consume the remaining two years of the current term.
The team should be large enough to combine several areas of expertise and perspective, yet small
enough to facilitate the efficient scheduling of meetings to progress through a myriad of
questions and issues. There should be familiarity with the history and current status of the
franchise, local/state/federal law, financial and accounting principles, and community cable
needs.
Two important components ofthe team's early work, proceeding concurrently, will be:
1. establishing ground rules for the negotiating and status reporting process, and
2. gathering of data and community input regarding past franchise compliance and future
community cable-related needs.
Each of these components will include at least one work sessions with the City Council and the
two cable commissions. The information-gathering component will also include a detailed
community ascertainment study guided by Miller & Van Eaton, to gather information and input
from community organizations and institutions, cable subscribers, individual citizens and other
resources, using such tools as questionnaires, focus groups, first-person interviews, etc.
During certain of Mr. Ellrod's visits to Dubuque to help with franchise renewal negotiations, I
would also schedule meetings with City staff regarding the updating of our right-of-way
ordinance. We've been struggling with physical maintenance and restoration requirements and
compensation language, in light of the significant changes in Iowa law and unfavorable court
rulings which have resulted from disputes in Hawarden and continuing litigation in Coralville.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: The Recommended Action is that the following persons be
appointed to the City's cable franchise renewal negotiating team: Administrative Services
Manager Pauline Joyce, Cable TV Regulatory Commission Chairman Charlie Ellis, Corporation
Counsel Barry Lindahl and/or Assistant City Attorney Tim O'Brien, and myself, to be assisted by
Frederick Ellrod III of the Miller & Van Eaton law firm (or his designee). Following one or two
initial sessions, the team would meet with the City Council for a work session regarding
negotiation procedures and Council expectations.
cc: Pauline Joyce, Administrative Services Manager
Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Tim O'Brien, Assistant City Attorney
Charles Ellis, Chair, Cable TV Regulatory Commission