5/1/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Director Pinto advised that staff is asking the Board to put this into effect as of July 1 so that the franchises can get their bills ready and printed. He noted that the monies from the franchise fees go into the County's general fund. Commissioner Bowman was concerned about extending the cable franchises terms from 20 to 28 years, but Director Pinto explained that the length of the franchises does not matter because they are non-exclusive and allow other competition to enter the county. Vice Chairman Bird pointed out that the franchise fee is actually a pass-through charge to the customer because it is the customers who require that right-of-way in order to receive their cable service. Director Pinto explained that extension of service is something over which the County hasn't much authority, although our franchises do require that they will extend service if there are "x" number of customers per mile. He felt that both the cable companies are far improved from what they were 5 or 6 years ago. The Vice Chairman opened the Public Hearing, and asked if anyone wished to be heard in this matter. Ken Vickers, general manager of Falcon Cable in Sebastian, advised that the increase in the franchise fee would amount to approximately 35� on the typical monthly bill in their system. He pointed out that with the present ordinance there is at least some medium of dialogue as far as negotiations between the County and the franchise operators about the raising of these fees. In order to retain that flexibility they would like to suggest a change in the wording under Section 11 of the proposed ordinance where it says "the maximum percentage amount allowed by law as a license fee for its CAN System." They would like to insert "after a public hearing" at the end of that sentence. Secondly, while they appreciate the additional 8 years, they would like to MAY�� 39 11LIUK SIU PAGE .� I