HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019 Ordinance No. 021ORDINANC E NO. 21
SERIES OF 2019
BY AUTHORITY
COUNCIL BILL NO. 11
INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL
MEMBER MARTIN EZ
AN ORDINANCE EXTENDING THE CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD AND COMCAST
OF COLORADO IX, LLC, ON A MONTH TO MONTH BASIS
WHEREAS , on April 7 , 1980 the City Council of the City of Englewood granted to
Mountain States Video , a subsidiary of AT&T Corporation , a franchise to own and operate a
cable television system in the City of Englewood as set forth by the passage of Ordinance No. 4 ,
Series of 1980 ;
WHEREAS, in 2002 AT&T and Comcast Corporation , together with AT&T Broadband
Corp ., and certain of their respective affiliates entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger
with the resulting business entity to be known as AT&T Comcast Corporation;
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of En g lewood by passage of Re solution No.
57 , Series of 2019 consented to the merger and transfer of the 1980 Franchise Agreement to
AT&T Comcast Corporation ;
WHEREAS , on May 10 , 2002 , the City Council of the City of E nglewood approved the
grant of a non-exclusive Franchise Agreement to Mountain States Video , INC. [a Subsidiary of
AT&T Broadband] for its construction and operation of a cable television system within the City
by the passage of Ordinance No. 19 , Series 2002 ;
WHEREAS , the 2002 Franchise Agreement was subsequently transferred to AT&T
Comcast of Colorado IX , LLC ("Comcast"), by the merger of AT&T and its respective affiliates
with Comcast Corporation ;
WHEREAS , beginning in 2017 the City and Comcast have engaged in informal
negotiations to extend the 2002 Franchise Agreement, and Comcast has preserved its right of
renewal of the 2002 Franchise Agreement by timely filing the required 626 letter with the City to
preserve the right to initiate the formal process for renewing the Franchise pursuant to the
provisions of the Cable Communications Pol icy Act of 1984 ("Cable Act"), if the informal
negotiations were not to succeed ;
WHEREAS , Section 2.3 of the Franchise A g reement provides that the franchise granted
to the City expired on June 10 , 2017; and
WHEREAS , City staff and Comcast representatives agreed the existing Franchise
Agreement would be extended month-to-month , upon expiration of the existing Franchise
Agreement, until a renewal or extension of the Franchise Agreement could be negotiated.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Englewood hereby approves that the Franchise
Agreement between the City of Englewood , Colorado and Comcast of Colorado IX , LLC , be
extended on a month to month basis until the Franchise Agreement is renewed or extended by
negotiation between the parties.
Section 2 . Neither party waives any right which it enjoys under law as a result of agreeing to
this Franchise extension on a month to month basis , and Comcast shall not be required to file any
additional request or document in order to preserve its right of renewal under Section 626 of the
Cable Act.
Introduced , read in full , and passed on first reading on the 15 th day of April , 2019 .
Published by Title as a Bill for an Ordinance in the City 's official newspaper on the I 8th
day of April, 2019 .
Published as a Bill for an Ordinance on the City 's official website beginning on the 17 th
day of April , 2019 for thirty (30) days .
Read by Title and passed on final reading on the 6 th day of May, 2019.
Published by Title in the City 's official newspaper as Ordinance No . 21, Series of 2019,
on the 9th day of May, 20 I 9 .
Published by title on the City's official website beginning on the 8th day of May, 2019 for
thirty (30) days.
This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after
ATTEST:
I, Stephanie Carlile, City Clerk of the City of Englewood , Colorado, hereby certify that the
above and foregoing is a true copy of the Ordinance passed on final reading and published by
Title as Ordinance No. 21 , Series of 2019.
•k
COMCAST
January 29, 2019
Margaret Brocklander, CISM, CGEIT
Director Information Technology
City of Englewood
1000 Englewood Parkway
Englewood CO 80110
VIA Electronic Mail
Re : Month-to-Month Extension of Cable Franchise Agreement
Dear Ms . Brocklander :
1899 Wynkoop Street
Suite 550
Denve r, CO 80202
Comcast's cable te levision franchise agreement ("Franch ise ") with the City of Englewood ("City") exp i red
on June 10, 2017, and Comcast and the City initiated informal discussions regarding renewal of the
Franchise prior to that date .
On July 25, 2017, Comcast sent the enclosed letter to the City i ndicating that during these informal
franchise renewal discussions the Franchise would continue to be in effect on a month-to-month basis
until Comcast and the City reached a renewal of the Franchise .
Federal law governs cable franch ise renewals, at Section 626 of the 1984 Cab le Communications Policy
Act. Comcast and the City agree that, without waiving any rights either the City or Comcast have under
state or federal law, the Franchise will continue in order to allow the negotiation process to be
completed . Although we have confidence that a renewal agreement w i ll be r eached shortly through our
informa l negotiations , we continue to reserve our rights under the formal renewal procedures of the
1984 Act, and reserve the right to proceed w ith the formal renewal process at any time upon written
notice to the City
We look forward to successfully concluding a renewal agreement and to prov iding qua li ty cable
television service i n the City for many years to come . Please contact Nicola s Ji menez ,
Nicolas Jimenez@comcast.com , if you have any questions o r concerns .
Privileged & Confidential
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Sincerely,
Comcast of Colorado IX, LLC, locally known as Comcast
Jon Lehmann
Senior Director, Government & Regulatory Affairs, Comcast Mountain West Region
CC:
Nicolas Jimenez, Director, Government & Regulatory Affairs, Comcast Mountain West Region
Ken Fellman, Kissinger & Fellman, P.C.
Enclosures
Privileged & Confidential
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