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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2005-160 Oppose Fed Legislation re franchises RESOLUTION NO. 2005-160 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TO REFRAIN FROM ANY FORM OF SUPPORT OR CO-SPONSORSHIP OF SENATE BILL 1504 KNOWN AS THE "BROADBAND INVESTMENT AND CONSUMER CHOICE ACT" (S. 1504), AND TO VOTE IN OPPOSITION TO S. 1504, AND DIRECTING THAT THIS RESOLUTION BE FORWARDED TO THE FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AS DEEMED APPROPRIATE, AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; FURTHER, PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City of Dania Beach Code of Ordinances provides for the issuance and regulation of cable franchises for, and the installation, construction and operation of Cable Systems within the City of Dania Beach ("City"); and WHEREAS, on January 12, 2005, the City entered into a Cable Franchise Agreement with Comcast of South Florida, Comcast of Florida and Comcast of Florida/Illinois/Michigan Inc., a subsidiary of Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, collectively doing business locally as Comcast ("Comcast"), and WHEREAS, on August 2, 2005, U.S. Senators John Ensign and John McCain introduced the Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act of 2005 (hereinafter referred to as "S. 1504"); and WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Dania Beach opposes the passage of S. 1504 because: o The bill would preempt all local authority over the provision of cable and video services within the community, including the ability of the local government to provide appropriate oversight to entities conducting business within their jurisdiction and in the local public rights-of-way; © The City's negotiated Cable Franchise Agreement would be abrogated under the terms of the bill; 0 . e The bill would substitute a new compensation methodology lowering the cable component of the Communications Services Tax, which must be justified as being "reasonable" in the eyes of the user, limited to management costs (which denies the rights of the property owner to obtain fair and reasonable compensation for the use of public property for private gain), and not in excess of 5%; ® These requirements and restrictions would result in the creation of a subsidy to the cable and telecommunications industries, at the expense of the City's taxpayers; • The bill would substantially reduce the amount of capacity that may be required by local governments to meet their public, educational and government ("PEG") access needs, while removing the City's ability to obtain capital support for the use of PEG capacity, which is a negotiated term of the Cable Franchise Agreement, which may result in Comcast's'or another cable operator's failure to meet the City's cable-related needs and interests; o The bill would deprive local citizens of the ability to address local issues locally, by removing to the state all customer service issues, and further by denying consumers any form of recourse for any actions of a communications provider; ® The bill would eliminate any build-out requirements for any video service provider, thereby allowing providers to discriminate based on the affluence of the local neighborhoods they choose to serve; • o The bill would preempt any state or local law that is not generally applicable to all businesses, thereby potentially preempting any law applicable to only certain classes of businesses, such as utilities and rights-of-way users (such as requiring underground installation of facilities and ensuring electric code compliance); ® The bill would prohibit the City from imposing any fee for issuance of rights-of-way construction permits yet would require the City to act on requests for permits in a timely manner as determined by the Federal Communications Commission, thereby insinuating inappropriate federal government involvement in the basic day-to-day management of local rights-of-way; 0 The bill would prohibit municipalities and their utilities from providing communications services without giving a right of first refusal to private industry, and would then grant industry unfettered access to all municipal facilities and financing in the event private industry chooses to provide services; m The bill would deprive the City of the authority to establish and maintain government owned and operated networks, such as institutional networks, which may be utilized by first responders and other government officials in the day-to-day management of the City's business; ® The bill would permit broadened preemption of local zoning decisions relating to the • placement of cell towers, depriving the City of the authority to ensure that such towers 2 RESOLUTION 42005-160 • are safely and appropriately located in areas to provide the greatest degree of services without unnecessarily posing a hazard to the public health, safety and welfare; and ® The bill would eliminate the protection the City currently has against liability for damages and attorneys' fees in lawsuits brought by communication service providers against local governments, a type of litigation that the bill would seem to invite service providers to bring; and WHEREAS, for these reasons, the City Commission finds that it should oppose S. 1504 and urges the Florida Congressional Delegation and other members of Congress to oppose S. 1504; and WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that it would be in the public interest to forward this Resolution to the Florida Congressional Delegation, other members of Congress as deemed appropriate, and to the President of the United States; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH,FLORIDA,AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. That the foregoing "Whereas" clauses are ratified and confirmed as being true and correct and are made a specific part of this Resolution. Section 2. That the City Clerk is directed to immediately distribute this Resolution to the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation and all other members of Congress, as deemed appropriate, and to the President of the United States, requesting their support in opposition to S. 1504. Section 3. That all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with this Resolution are repealed to the extent of such conflict. • 3 RESOLUTION #2005-160 • Section 4. That this Resolution shall be in force and take effect immediately upon its passage and adoption. PASSED and ADOPTED on September 27, 2005. ANNE CASTRO MAYOR—COMMISSIONER ATTEST: ROLL CALL: 1 COMMISSIONER ANTON - Y ES D K/ COMMISSIONER BERTINO - YES LOUISE STILSON COMMISSIONER MCELYEA - YES CITY CLERK VICE-MAYOR FLURY - YES MAYOR CASTRO - YES • APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS: BY: AP 4� TMM4STAMBRO CITY ATTORNEY • 4 RESOLUTION #2005-160 I t 7e CITY OF DANIA BEACH MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Commission FROM: Tom Ansbro, City Attorney DATE: September 21, 2005 RE: Resolution Opposing Senate Bill 1504 Regarding Cable TV Franchises Attached is a Resolution regarding the above-referenced matter. Last week, one of our lobbyists, Russ Klenet, reported that there will be a very significant bill relating to cable TV franchises in the 2006 Florida Legislative Session. The local telephone exchange companies (BellSouth, Verizon and Sprint) and other technology companies involved in the delivery of "Wi-Max" wireless broadband services are going to ask the Legislature to eliminate local franchises for cable TV. The proposal calls for the Florida Public Services Commission to approve statewide franchises and to allow local exchange companies to provide cable or video services, without having to obtain City franchise agreement permission. Existing city franchises would remain in place until they expire. The revenue stream that local governments derive from these cable franchises would be replaced by a flat tax assessed against all providers. The rate has not been proposed but it is expected that the taxing authority may be relegated to the PSC. Adoption of the Resolution is recommended. TJA:slw Attachment •