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ITEM 7.1 Franchise Agreement with Charter CableCITY OF MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT INFORMATION Request for City Council Action ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT REQUESTOR: MEETING DATE: Legal City Attorney May 22, 2017 PRESENTER(s) REVIEWED BY: ITEM #: City Attorney City Administrator/Finance Director 7.1 Flaherty AGENDA ITEM DETAILS RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that Council retain the services of Robert Vose of Kennedy & Graven to advise the City and City staff regarding renewal of Charter Cable Franchise which expires in November of this year. ARE YOU SEEKING APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT? IS A PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED? Yes No BACKGROUND/J USTI FICATION: The City entered into a cable franchise Agreement with Charter in 2002. At that time both Charter and a company named WH Link applied for franchises. WH Link asserted that they had federal authority which restricted the Cities right to require certain franchise provisions that Charter was subject to. The City granted franchises to both Charter and WH Link. Charter accepted the franchise while WH Link appealed the legal issues of the franchise to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, where the City decision was upheld. During the course of the events described above, the City retained Bob Vose of Kennedy & Graven to represent the City as the proceedings required expertise in the area of City Franchise Law. He also negotiated the original franchise, now expiring. The City sent correspondence to Charter quite a while ago regarding negotiations for a franchise renewal but have only recently heard back from them. Mr. Vose has indicated to me that many municipalities in the metro area are in a similar situation, and it appears that Charter is delayed in these negotiations due to overall corporate issues. It would be valuable to have authorization to contact Mr. Vose for advice regarding these procedures, especially in light of the short term for franchise renewal that the City now faces. Depending upon the issues raised by Charter in the renewal process we may have to make extensive use of Mr. Vose or just a few hours of his time. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ATTACHED: • Letter from Kennedy & Graven. POSSIBLE MOTION Motion to approve City staff to work with Bob Vose of Kennedy & Graven on issues raised by Charter Cable Franchise renewal upon the terms and conditions of that letter from Kennedy & Graven dated May 2, 2017. 470 U.S. Bank Plaza _ Offices in 200 South Sixth Street Minneapolis Minneapolis, MN 55402 r (612) 337-9300 telephone Saint Paul (612) 337-9310 fax t St. Cloud www.kennedy-graven,com c H A R T E R E D Affirmative Action, Equal opportunity Employer KOBEWIVJ. V. VUSE Attorney at Law Direct Dial (612) 337-9275 Email: rvose@kennedy-graven.com May 2, 2017 Mr. Andrew MacArthur MACARTHUR LAW OFFICE, LLC Via E -Mail and U.S. Mail 3601 Thurston Avenue N Suite 103 Anoka, MN 55303 RE. City of Otsego; Cable Franchise Renewal CCVH Operating LLC, dba Charter Communications ("Charter') Dear Andy: I understand Charter's cable franchise with the City of Otsego expires in November of this year. You have asked for a proposal to assist with renewal of that franchise. PROPOSAL Experience I would be responsible for this project. I have assisted with many cable franchise renewals in Minnesota, as well as competitive franchising requests. I have previously assisted Otsego with both. I have negotiated with all cable operators in Minnesota including Charter. A short list of only those clients I am currently assisting with franchise renewals is attached. My resume is also enclosed. I can provide a longer list of communities I have previously represented in franchise renewals or competitive franchising upon request. Malpractice insurance coverage. We carry professional liability insurance with Westport Insurance Companies in the amount of $5,000,000 per clairn/aggregate. Industry standard exclusions only. Conflict of Interest. We are aware of no potential conflicts of interest. Fees I charge $175 per hour for cable -related matters. The minimum billing increment for services including phone calls and correspondence is six minutes. We would bill out-of-pocket costs for 498866v2 RJV VS105-1 Mr. Andrew MacArthur May 2, 2017 Page 2 standard things such as postage, long distance telephone calls, photocopying, filing fees and witness fees, and similar items. Our monthly billing statements provide detail for all fees and costs. Billings for services will be on a monthly basis. Billing statements are sufficient detailed to adequately identify the tasks performed, the attorney or staff performing them, and the time spent on each. 1 anticipate that my fees to assist you with finalizing a franchise renewal with Charter would not exceed $10,000. The actual cost may be much less depending on the list of needs or interests the City has for a renewal. Thank you for allowing Kennedy & Graven to offer its services to you and the City. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need any additional information. Yours truly, — Robert J.V. Vose RJV : jms Enclosures 498866v2 RJV VS 105.1 Current Cable Renewals Projects include; - Apple Valley, Rosemount, Farmington (Charter renewal; Frontier competitive franchise) - Burnsville (Comcast renewal; CenturyLink and Frontier competitive franchises) - Faribault (Charter) - Little Falls (Charter) - Owatonna (Charter) - Quad Cities Cable Commission- Anoka, Andover, Champlin, Ramsey (Comcast renewal; CenturyLink competitive franchise) - Sherburne Wright County Cable Communications Commission (10 cities; Charter) C H A R T E R E D Robert J.V. Vose LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITY LAW, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, LITIGATION J.D., University of Minnesota, 1994 B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1990 Attended Gustavus Adolphus College, 1986-88 PRIMARY PRACTICE AREAS Bob Vose is the City Attorney for Independence, Belle Plaine, Oak Grove, Pine Island, and Victoria. He has also represented many municipalities and municipal joint powers entities in all aspects of cable television regulation, telecommunications law, telecommunications infrastructure development, and right-of-way management issues. Mr. Vose advises municipal clients in cable franchise administration and enforcement, franchise renewals and transfers, competitive franchising, and development of municipal systems. He has also represented clients in district courts and the Minnesota Court of Appeals on a number of occasions. BACKGROUND Mr. Vose joined Kennedy & Graven in 1999. Mr. Vose began his career working with hundreds of municipalities around the country in the rapidly evolving area of municipal telecommunications regulation and right-of-way management. Mr. Vose concentrates on understanding and developing the unique needs of his municipal clients: from the smallest rural municipalities to the largest metropolitan -area cities. Mr. Vose is a member of the Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators (MACTA), an association of municipal telecommunications regulators and managers affiliated with the League of Minnesota Cities. Mr. Vose has served as both legal counsel and lobbyist for the organization. MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Mr. Vose is a member of the American, Minnesota State and Hennepin County Bar Associations and the Communications Law Section of the Hennepin Bar. He is also a member of the National Association ofTelecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) and MACTA, and is on the Board of Directors for the Minneapolis Telecommunications Network. PERSONAL Mr. Vose lives in Edina and enjoys sports of all kinds including tennis, hockey and golf. Mr. Vose spends time traveling, reading and is a former chair of the Minneapolis Telecommunications Network and was elected member of the Linden Hills Neighborhood council. "I enjoy working with local governments to ensure that telecommunications services and facilities both meet the needs of the community and local institutions but also provide an important community development tool."