HomeMy WebLinkAboutRancho Mirage New Palmer Cablevison Franchise Agreement r
INFORMATIONAL ITEM
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
CITY OF PALM DESERT
DATE : May 11 , 1992
TO: CITY MANAGER, HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
SUBJECT: REVIEW OF RANCHO MIRAGE' S NEW PALMER CABLEVISION
FRANCHISE AGREEMENT
After reviewing Rancho Mirage ' s recently negotiated franchise
agreement, we would like to highlight what specific changes were
made . We also met with John Uribarri of Rancho Mirage to review
the franchise agreement, and to clarify these changes .
One key provision of their agreement is that Palmer is to
completely rebuild their system with fiber optic material within 24
months, or they are subject to fines ranging from $2 , 000-$4 , 000 a
day. They are also to provide a capacity of at least 60 video
channels .
The other significant item that was successfully negotiated into
their franchise agreement is that subscribers may have multiple
outlets in their home at no additional cost . However, Palmer had
to raise their additional outlet rate from $4 . 95 to $5 . 77 to help
recoup the revenue lost that results from not charging for
additional outlets . Palmer' s condition to implementing one charge
per household is that this results in a revenue neutral situation,
thus subscribers with multiple outlets are paying less while people
with only one or two outlets and who can least afford an increase
are paying more .
But probably the biggest gain of this new agreement is simply that
Palmer has been given the deadline regarding when they are to
complete the rebuild. So this would be the single item that we
feel might be worthy of possibly negotiating with Palmer to set a
rebuild deadline for Palm Desert .
We have sent rate schedules to our Attorney, and have asked him to
review these schedules which have been in effect since January of
1986 . Additionally, we have also asked the Attorney to review our
current Franchise Agreement and the way Palmer has split the
original basic package into now offering a basic package (Channels
2-13 ) and an expanded preferred package (Channels 14-36 ) at an
extra cost to the subscribers .
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Finally, we ultimately want to obtain a legal opinion regarding how
far Palm Desert can currently go in enforcing rate regulation, and
for the future if federal or state cable television legislation,
i . e . ( S . 12/H.R. 3560/AB 821 ) becomes law. We will also confirm
whether Palmer has violated any provisions of our Franchise
Agreement when they split the original basic package into two
packages .
Carlos L . Ortega
Assistant City Manager
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CITY COUNCIL ACTION:DENIED
APFRO f.:D OT'iiER
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RECEIVE - —_
MEETI G DATE
AYES:
NOES: c --
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:,— k' s Office
VERIFIED BY: City e-r
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