HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 498-14 • 498-14 E1
RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION DECLARING A DEFAULT OF FRANCHISE AGREEMENT
AND DEMAND THAT THE DEFAULT BE CURED
WHEREAS, on or about September 16, 1999, the City of Rochester, Minnesota ("City")
granted a Cable Television Franchise Agreement ("Franchise") to Bresnan Telecommunications
Company, LLC; and,
WHEREAS, the Franchise is currently held by Charter Communications, Inc., ("Charter');
and,
WHEREAS, the Franchise provides that Charter shall make five video channels
available exclusively for Public, Educational and Government (PEG) Access; and,
WHEREAS, the Franchise further provides that the City and Charter "may at any time
agree to relocate any PEG access Channel to a different Channel number;" and,
• WHEREAS, on March 14, 2014, Charter sent a letter to the City formally requesting the
City's consent to Charter's proposal to relocate the City's PEG channels in conjunction with
Charter's overall transition to a digital format; and,
WHEREAS, on March 20, 2014, the City responded to Charter by indicating its
unwillingness to agree to the PEG channel relocation believing this issue should be addressed
as part of the overall informal franchise renewal process; and,
WHEREAS, on or about June 11, 2014, Charter's legal counsel forwarded a proposed
PEG access channel relocation resolution to the City's legal counsel for the City's
consideration. In that Charter-prepared draft resolution presented to the Council, one of the
"WHEREAS" recitals stated:
WHEREAS, the Franchise sets forth specific public, educational and government
("PEG") access channel location requirements and provides that Charter shall
not relocate any PEG access channel unless agreed to in writing by the City;
and,
WHEREAS, on July 14, 2014, the City again responded to Charter indicating the City's
position that there was no need for the relocation of PEG channels while expressing a
willingness to discuss the issue in the context of informal franchise renewal discussions; and,
WHEREAS, on September 15, 2014, Charter representatives appeared before the
City's Mayor and Common Council to discuss the PEG relocation issue. During that
• appearance, the Charter representatives repeated Charter's request that the City adopt the
• 498-14 E1
Charter-prepared resolution agreeing to the relocation of the PEG channels; and,
WHEREAS, following the September 15th meeting, the parties continued to exchange
email messages and telephone conversations regarding the PEG relocation issue; and,
WHEREAS, the parties were unable to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the
issue; and,
WHEREAS, on October 14 and 21, 2014, Charter unilaterally and without the City's
agreement relocated the City's PEG channels to the following locations:
1. PEG — Public Access was moved from Channel 10 to Channel 180
2. PEG — Government Access was moved from Channel 19 to Channel 181
3. PEG — Government Access was moved from Channel 20 to Channel 187
4. PEG — Public Safety Weather Radar was moved from Channel 21 to
Channel188
• 5. PEG — Educational Access was moved from Channel 22 to Channel 189.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of
Rochester, Minnesota, that:
1. Charter's unilateral relocation of PEG Access channels without the City's
agreement constitutes a violation of the Cable Television Franchise
Agreement.
2. The City demands that Charter remedy the violation by relocating all PEG
channels back to their original locations by March 31, 2015.
3. In the event Charter fails to or refuses to comply with this demand and
take corrective action, the City may proceed with any available remedies
as provided in the franchise agreement.
•
498-14 E1
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, THIS 3rd DAY OF NOVEMBER 2014.
A�'U4 ZZA—
PRESIDENT Q SAID COMMON COUNCIL
ATTEST ,
CITY CLERK
APPROVED THIS 4th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2014.
MAYOR OF SAID CITY
�i.tii tiYER if741
,, •rsri
k a'
Res 10\Resolu.CableFranchiseNoticeDefauIt
•