Ordinance 93-2851ORDINANCE NO. 93-2851
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, REPEALING MIAMI BEACH ORDINANCE
NO. 79-2172 ENTITLED, "AN ORDINANCE AWARDING A NON-
EXCLUSIVE CATV LICENSE TO ULTRACOM OF DADE COUNTY, INC.
FOR A PERIOD OF FIFTEEN (15) YEARS WITH A TEN (10) YEAR
EXTENSION OPTION SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF ELECTORATE," IN
ITS ENTIRETY; PROVIDING FOR REPEALER, AND AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
WHEREAS, on September 19, 1979, the City adopted Ordinance No.
79-2172, awarding a non-exclusive cable television franchise to
Ultracom of Dade County, Inc. for a period of 15 years ("Ultracom
Franchise"); and
WHEREAS, on February 5, 1986, the City adopted Ordinance No.
86-2500 awarding a non-exclusive cable television franchise to All -
Rite Satellite, Inc. for a period of 15 years (the "TV Ticket
Franchise"); and
WHEREAS, the City authorized the assignment of the TV Ticket
Franchise to Rifkin/Narragansett South Florida CATV Limited
Partnership d/b/a Gold Coast Cablevision, (the "Franchisee"); and
WHEREAS, on March 2, 1988, the City adopted Resolution No. 88-
19179 authorizing the assignment of the Ultracom and TV Ticket
Franchises to Franchisee; and
WHEREAS, the City Administration, with the assistance of
special counsel, has currently engaged the Franchisee in
negotiations with respect to the upcoming renewal of the Ultracom
Franchise and modifications and amendments to the terms and
condition of both the Ultracom Franchise and the TV Ticket
Franchise to include terms and conditions including customer
service standards, rate regulation, and other pertinent issues; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") new
rules and regulations with respect to rate regulation have just
been released, and since these new rules and regulations will
provide authority to the City for rate regulation and will restrict
the Franchisee with respect to rates, the Administration has
determined that it is not reasonable to conclude cable renewal
negotiations pending detailed review of these rules and
regulations; and
WHEREAS, attached hereto, the Mayor and City Commission has
approved Resolution No.93-20796, authorizing the Mayor and City
Clerk to execute an Agreement between the City and the Franchisee,
for the purpose of voluntarily terminating the non-exclusive cable
television franchise with Ultracom of Dade County, Inc. and to
negotiate in good faith mutually agreeable modifications and
amendments to the existing TV Ticket Franchise.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and City
Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida:
Section 1.
That the Mayor and City Commission of the City of
Miami Beach, Florida make the following findings:
1. Pursuant to the Agreement executed and approved by
Resolution No. 93-20796, the City and Franchisee
mutually agree to voluntarily terminate the non-
exclusive Ultracom Franchise and to negotiate in
good faith mutually agreeable modifications and
amendments to the existing TV Ticket Franchise.
1
2. As a result of the termination of the Ultracom
Franchise, the City will be able to immediately
commence collecting an additional 1% franchise fee
under the TV Ticket Franchise, based upon a more
inclusive definition of gross revenue.
3. The City and the Cable Franchisee have agreed to
further negotiate in the next three months to
modify and amend the remaining TV Ticket franchise,
as well as the City's master cable ordinance to
cover issues including, but not limited to, state
of the art technology; public, educational and
government channels and equipment necessary for the
operation thereof; new consumer service
requirements; rate regulation, and an extension of
the existing TV Ticket Franchise term beyond its
current 2001 expiration date.
Section 2. Repeal of Ordinance No. 79-2172.
That Ordinance No. 79-2172 is hereby repealed in its entirety.
Section 3. Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall take effect on the 29th day of
May 1993.
Attest:
Passed and adopted t
City Clerk
1st reading 5/5/93
2nd reading 5/19/93
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2
FORM APPROVED
L GA T.
By'
Date
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM NO: .57-q3
TO: MAYOR SEYMOUR GELBER
MEMBERS OF THE CITY COMMISSION
FROM: ROGER M. CARLTON
CITY MANAGER
LAURENCE PEINGOLD
CITY ATTORNEY
DATE: MAY 19, 1993
SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, REPEALING MIAMI BEACH ORDINANCE
NO. 79-2172 ENTITLED, "AN ORDINANCE AWARDING A NON-
EXCLUSIVE CATV LICENSE TO ULTRACOM OF DADE COUNTY, INC.,
FOR A PERIOD OF FIFTEEN (15) YEARS WITH A TEN (10) YEAR
EXTENSION OPTION SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF ELECTORATE," IN
ITS ENTIRETY
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION
The Administration recommends the adoption, upon this second
reading, of the above titled Ordinance.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
The City of Miami Beach currently has two CATV franchises.
The first franchise was awarded to Ultracom of Dade County, Inc.
(the "Ultracom Franchise") in 1979. This franchise was for a
fifteen year period. A second fifteen year franchise was awarded
to All -Rite Satellite, Inc. (the "TV Ticket Franchise"), in 1986.
In March, 1988, both Miami Beach franchisees were transferred to
Rifkin/Narragansett South Florida CATV Limited Partnership d/b/a
Gold Coast Cable (the "Cable Franchise"). Since that date, Gold
Coast has been providing CATV service to Miami Beach under both
franchises.
The Ultracom franchise is up for renewal in 1994 and, thus the
City is in the renewal process. In contrast, the All -Rite
Franchise is not up for renewal until the year 2001.
In Dade County, cable operators also receive a franchise from
the County. In 1992, Dade County amended the Metropolitan Dade
County Code relating to cable television and in doing so, not only
updated its general franchise ordinance, but also increased its
share of the gross revenue paid to the County. On September 15,
1992, Dade County renewed the Rifkin/Narragansett cable franchise
for a ten year period beginning May 16, 1993 and ending May 16,
2003. The terms and conditions of the renewal license comply with
the updated code of Metropolitan Dade County including the
increased franchise fee.
Pursuant to prior Commission resolutions, the City
Administration, with the assistance of special counsel, has engaged
Rifkin -Narragansett of South Florida CATV Limited Partnership (Gold
Coast Cable) in negotiations with respect to '.he upcoming renewal
of the "Ultracom Franchise" and modifications of the terms and
conditions of both the "Ultracom Franchise" and the "TV Ticket
Franchise" to include terms and conditions concerning customer
service standards, rate regulation, and other pertinent issues.
1
AGENDA
ITEM
DATE
63
5-19-43
The Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") rules and
regulations with respect to rate regulation have just been released
and are in excess of 500 pages. These new rules and regulations
will provide authority to the City for rate regulation and
similarly, will restrict the Cable Franchisee with respect to
rates. As a result thereof, it is not reasonable to conclude cable
renewal negotiations in the absence of these rules and regulations.
At the City Commission meeting of May 5, 1993, the Mayor and
City Clerk were authorized to execute an Agreement with the Cable
Franchisee whereby the Cable Franchisee voluhtaiAly agrees to
terminate the "Ultracom Franchise" (which the City must do through
repealer of Ordinance No. 79-2172, which established the Ultracom
Franchise) and to negotiate in good faith mutually agreeable
modifications to the "TV Ticket Franchise". Thus, the City will be
able to immediately commence collecting an additional one (1)
percent franchise fee on new TV Ticket subscribers, based upon a
more inclusive definition of gross revenue. It is estimated that
the City will collect an additional one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000) of franchise fees prior to what would have been the
renewal of the Ultracom Franchise and that during the remaining
existing term of the TV Ticket Franchise, the City will collect in
excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in new revenue.
The City Commission passed the Ordinance upon first reading on May
5, 1993.
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