Agenda Date: 04/21/2015
Subject:
Title
Ordinance of the City of Littleton, Colorado, deleting Chapter 9 and amending Chapter 10 of Title 8 of the Littleton Municipal Code regarding cable television franchise
Body
Presented By:
Kelli Narde, Director of Communications
POLICY QUESTION:
Shall the city council revise the city code Chapter 9 of Title 8 (Cable Television Franchise) to eliminate outdated and unnecessary cable franchise code provisions, and repeal and reenact Chapter 10 of Title 8 (Cable Customer Service Standards) to adopt updated cable customer service standards as recommended by the Colorado Communications and Utility Alliance (CCUA)?
BACKGROUND:
Chapter 9 contains cable franchise requirements initially adopted in 1980, amended in 1994 and again in 2000. It is currently out of date (for example, referring to AT&T as the entity that holds a cable franchise) and does not reference the fact that the city now has two entities that hold cable franchises in Littleton. Chapter 10 contains the regional customer service standards that were developed in 2004 by the Greater Metro Telecommunications Consortium (the predecessor entity of CCUA). Those standards have recently been updated.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
The city attorney, working with Ken Fellman and Kelli Narde, has reviewed Chapter 9 and recommends that it be repealed in its entirety. Some of the language is simply out of date. Other language is inconsistent with changes in federal law that has been adopted since the last code amendment. There is no reference to competitive cable franchise agreements. Most importantly, all of the substantive topics covered in Chapter 9 (FRANCHISE GRANTED; LETTER OF CREDIT/CASH DEPOSIT; INDEMNIFICATION; LIABILITY AND INSURANCE;
FRANCHISE FEES; REFUNDS TO SUBSCRIBERS AND USERS; ACCESS TO BOOKS AND RECORDS; and EXPIRATION) are already covered in the city's existing Comcast and Century Link franchises. These issues are addressed in franchise agreements a...
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