Fridley Ordinance No. 1385 (Cable Franchise)

Press release from the City of Fridley:

SUMMARY ORDINANCE NO. 1385

AN ORDINANCE RENEWING THE GRANT OF A FRANCHISE TO COMCAST OF ARKANSAS/LOUISIANA/MINNESOTA/MISSISSIPPI/TENNESSEE, LLC TO OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A CABLE SYSTEM IN THE CITY OF FRIDLEY, MINNESOTA; SETTING FORTH CONDITIONS ACCOMPANYING THE GRANT OF FRANCHISE; PROVIDING FOR CITY REGULATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CABLE SYSTEM; TERMINATING PRIOR FRANCHISE

1. Title

An ordinance of the City of Fridley, Minnesota (“City”), renewing the grant of a franchise to Comcast of Arkansas/Louisiana/Minnesota/Mississippi/Tennessee, LLC (“Comcast”) to continue to operate and maintain a cable system in the City of Fridley, Minnesota for the provision of cable service and other authorized non-cable services. The previous grant of a franchise to Comcast, Ordinance No. 1210, is hereby terminated.

2. Summary

The City Council of the City of Fridley does hereby ordain as follows:

That a franchise has been granted to Comcast and that the franchise includes the following: 1) authorizes Comcast to construct, maintain and operate a cable system throughout the franchise area for the provision of cable service and other authorized non-cable services; 2) imposes on Comcast a franchise fee of 5% of Comcast’s annual gross revenues; 3) establishes a franchise term of ten years; 4) requires Comcast to dedicate standard definition (“SD”) and high definition (“HD”) channel capacity for public, educational and governmental (“PEG”) programming and provides financial support of such PEG channels; 5) mandates cable service customer service standards; and 6) requires a performance bond and, under certain circumstances, a security fund to enforce Comcast’s compliance with the franchise.

3. Notice

This title and summary has been published to clearly inform the public of the intent and effect of the Fridley City Code. A copy of the ordinance, in its entirety, is available for inspection by any person during regular business hours at the offices of the City Clerk of the City of Fridley, 7071 University Ave N.E., Fridley, MN.

PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE City of Fridley THIS __ DAY OF , 2020.

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SCOTT J. LUND, MAYOR

ATTEST:

____________________________

DANIEL TIENTER, CITY CLERK

Public Hearing: November 9, 2020

First Reading: November 9, 2020

Second Reading: November 23, 2020

Published: November 27, 2020

Effective Date: January 22, 2021

A full and true version of this ordinance is available through the City Clerk's Office. Please email melissa.moore@fridleymn.gov to request a PDF of the full ordinance.

This press release was produced by the City of Fridley. The views expressed are the author's own.