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RES 2004-1228 - Cable television system interconnect fees • • ONIAHA,1,F 4``1 P�s R EC E 1'J E D Law Department t '+' ,4/ " Omaha/Douglas Civic Center ���r a n z I� (') S � : 28 1819 Famam Street,Suite 804 ® p�Il �( w Omaha,Nebraska 68183 0804 OF= y o pry' Ati (402)444-5115 4/BD FEBR‘3r1- it i C'Via."''i`E` Telefax(402)444-5125 ilter:City of Omaha C `1..h Paul D.Kratz Mike Fahey,Mayor City Attorney Honorable President and Members of the City Council, The attached Resolution is submitted at the request of the City Council Law Department Committee. The resolution approves amendments to the criteria used to award moneys from the cable interconnect fee fund. This fund is established by ordinance and consists of moneys contributed by Cox Communications and cable companies that interconnect with Cox and use its community and governmental access programming. The City Council has approved procedures and criteria controlling the award of the funds. Regarding the proper use of the money, the criteria state: "All monies shall be used exclusively to promote and assist public, community, or governmental access cable television programming. Such uses may include,but not be limited to: advertising and promoting access programming; producing and distributing a program guide for the access programs; purchasing, renting, or otherwise obtaining equipment to be used by the access programmers to supplement the equipment provided by Cox Communications,Inc.;and paying unusual expenses necessarily incurred in producing access programming." "In awarding funding, preference shall be given to proposals or projects that are innovative, expand services, improve the quality of programming, or increase the awareness of access programming." Questions have arisen about whether these grants should be used to purchase equipment such as video cameras that could be checked out from the public access studio maintained by Cox Communications. Grants for equipment have been made in the past but it has proven difficult to keep track of the equipment and to know whether the equipment continues to be used for cable television access programs. In addition,such grants don't fit well within the Council's direction that equipment should supplement what is already available. Honorable President and Members of the City Council Page 2 The attached amendment to the criteria has been prepared in order to clarify the City's policy on awarding interconnect fee grants for television programming equipment. If this change is adopted, interconnect fee grants can be made to acquire equipment only if there is a showing that the applicant has a particular need for the equipment and that the equipment is not otherwise available. In those limited circumstances, the equipment will remain the property of the City. In addition, the amendment reaffirms that an organized consortium group providing access programming is eligible to receive these grants. RespectfullOubmitted, /./p..-A ://3/2Y / /4, 1-/i, 9-20-047 Thomas O. Mumgaard / Date Deputy City Attorney P:\Law1\15018maf.doc CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES APPLICANT QUALIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES 1. At the time the application is submitted, all applicants must meet one or more of the following criteria: (a) Be a resident of an area served by a cable television system holding a franchise with the City of Omaha. (b) Be a governmental entity, religious organization, or accredited educational institution. (c) Be a non-profit organization meeting Access Policies adopted by Cox Communications, Inc., or the City of Omaha(a consortium) 2. All applications shall describe in detail the purchases or projects for which the money will be used. This description shall provide any information required by the Cable Television Advisory Committee Interconnect Fee Review Subcommittee, including identifying the sources from which purchases will be made,the anticipated use of any equipment or property purchased,the anticipated ownership of any equipment or property purchased, the length of time during which the funded project will be conducted, and the community interests to be served by the purchase or project. An itemized budget for the purchase or project shall be submitted with the application. The application must be typewritten on a form approved by the Subcommittee and shall be signed by the person making application or a person authorized to act on behalf of an applying organization. 3. Applications shall describe a measurement method by which the success or failure of the project will be gauged. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROJECTS OR PURCHASES 1. All monies shall be used exclusively to promote and assist public, community, or governmental access cable television programming. Such uses may include,but not be limited to: advertising and promoting access programming;producing and distributing a program guide for the access programs; purchasing, renting, or otherwise obtaining equipment to be used by the access programmers to supplement the equipment provided by Cox Communications, Inc.; and paying unusual expenses necessarily incurred in producing access programming. 2. No monies may be directly or indirectly received by any cable television system holding a franchise with the City of Omaha. 9/04 CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES Page 2 of 4 3. Funding will be provided in a manner determined by the City Council. The preferred method of funding shall be through reimbursement of verified expenses or an imprest fund administered by the Finance Department. An applicant may submit justification for funding as anon-repayable grant payable upon approval. The amount of any award will be determined based on the needs of the proposal and the availability of funds. 4. In awarding funding,preference shall be given to proposals or projects that are innovative, expand services, improve the quality of programming, or increase the awareness of access programming. 5. Funding may not be used to replace funding used by the applicant prior to the application for ordinary operational or production expenses. Requests for funds to pay salaries or other general overhead will not normally be considered. 6. Funding shall not be provided to projects that are commercial in nature. 7. All applicants must establish that they have sufficient expertise, funding, and personnel to complete the project or proposal. 8. After December 31, 2004, funding will not be awarded for cameras or other equipment reasonably available to the applicant from Cox Communications or anv other franchisee. An application asking for funding for equipment of any type must demonstrate a particular need for the equipment that cannot be reasonably met by equipment available from a franchisee. If funding for equipment is approved after that date the funding shall be paid to the City of Omaha which shall obtain the equipment and the equipment will remain City of Omaha property held in the custody of Cox Communications for use by access programmers. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES 1. Only one application for funding may be submitted by a person or organization during any calendar year. Applications for funding must be submitted on or before December 31 of each year to the Omaha City Council. Submitted applications will be forwarded to the Review Subcommittee for review without additional City Council action. Review shall occur on a schedule set by the Review Subcommittee. The City Council staff shall provide the Review Subcommittee members with copies of the applications and supporting documentation. Summaries of the applications and supporting documentation may be provided in lieu of the applications if the Review Subcommittee so directs. 2. The Cable Television Advisory Committee shall establish an Interconnect Fee Review Subcommittee consisting of four (4) or more members selected from CTAC. The Review Subcommittee shall meet and review all applications for funding from the interconnect fee fund 9/04 CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES Page 3 of 4 established by Omaha Municipal Code section 19-425. Members of the Review Subcommittee shall be appointed in the same manner as members of standing committees. 3. The Review Subcommittee shall report to the Cable Television Advisory Committee its recommendations for approval or disapproval for each application. The Cable Television Advisory Committee shall submit to the City Council its recommendations for approval or disapproval of all applications for funding together with a designation of the manner of payment. The recommendations shall be based upon the funding criteria and procedures approved by the City Council. 4. At such times as determined by the Review Subcommittee, every organization or person receiving funding shall submit to the Subcommittee progress reports describing in detail the use of its interconnect funding. Within thirty (30) days after completion of the project or all purchases funded by interconnect fees, the organization or person receiving funding shall submit a final narrative or videotape report evaluating the success of the project or purchase keyed to the measures of success identified in the application. In addition,the report shall include an itemized expenditure report and such other information as is required by the Review Subcommittee. All unused funds shall be promptly returned to the City and the Review Subcommittee shall be notified. All reports shall be forwarded to the Finance Department. 5. The City reserves the right to discontinue any funding or deny future funding if the organization or person violates any law,engages in any activity injurious to the City's interests,fails to make satisfactory progress or comply with any approved criteria or procedures, or uses any funding for purposes other than identified in the approved application. 6. All organizations or persons receiving funding shall maintain all records,books,and accounts as are deemed necessary by the Finance Department to assure proper accounting of all funded expenditures. Such records,books,and accounts shall be kept for one year beyond submission of the final report. Any representative of the City or CTAC designated by the Review Subcommittee shall have access to any books,documents,papers and records of the organization or person which relates to the proposal funded by interconnect fees for the purpose of making audit,examination,excerpts, and transcriptions. 7. To the extent warranted, any purchase of equipment with interconnect fee monies shall be made only after the proposed purchase is reviewed by Cox Communications Omaha or its successor franchisee to determine compatibility with other cable television service equipment and to determine that the purchase price is not excessive. Review shall include Cox obtaining a price quote from vendors acceptable to Cox. To the extent possible purchases shall be made from such vendors at that price and payment shall be made directly from the City to the vendor upon documentation submitted 9/04 CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES Page 4 of 4 by Cox. Equipment purchased in this manner shall be delivered first to Cox, who shall verify the purchase and provide appropriate training or direction to the purchaser in how to use the equipment. 8. Any equipment (including durable goods or material) purchased with interconnect fee moneys shall be the property of the person or organization receiving the award of funds but,to the extent described in this paragraph, the City shall retain an interest in certain equipment. All equipment obtained with interconnect fee moneys shall be used only for the purposes described in the application for funding. Any single piece of equipment obtained primarily with interconnect fee moneys and having a purchase price listed, below (exclusive of taxes and shipping), shall be transferred to the City of Omaha and shall become the property of the City of Omaha if the person or organization receiving funding does not regularly use the equipment for the described purpose during the designated time period following the award of funding. PURCHASE PRICE TIME PERIOD At least $2,000.00 but less than$5,000.00 2 years At least $5,000.00 but less than$15,000.00 4 years $15,000.00 or greater 6 years The person receiving funding or an authorized representative of an organization receiving funding shall in the progress reports required by these criteria certify compliance with this paragraph. 9. A copy of these criteria and procedures shall be provided along with the initial payment of funds or authorization to draw funds from an account. Acceptance of interconnect funds shall signify agreement to comply with the terms upon which the funding is awarded. P:\15020ma£doc 9/04 REQUEST TO LAW DEPARTMENT For Law Department Use Only TO: Paul D..Kratz;:City Attorney Log Book #: 221-02, = CITY COUNCI . DATE: September 8, 2004 Date Assigned: 09/08/-04 Assigned to: k4-f'( w-y Answered/Sent Out: ` \2—h� Withdrawn: REQUEST BEING MADE BY: Ora,h alf of Council Law Committee — Dan Welch, Chairman Ro ustin. Council Staff Assistant 411A4567 ame) (Department) (Phone) TIME LINE (Due Date): September 14, 2004 (12 Working Days from Date Received by Law Department) REQUEST FOR: Resolution Amending Interconnect Fund Criteria (State Specifically What You Are Requesting) DETAILS: Please prepare a resolution that would amend the Interconnect Application criteria to prohibit applications for equipment except in the case of Cox Communications Omaha not having the equipment that the applicant can demonstrate a need for. • INFORMATION ATTACHED: YES NO X NONE AVAILABLE wl c: Councilmembers, City Clerk, Council Staff L INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM Law Department DATE: September 10, 2004 TO: Rod Austin, City Council Staff Assistant FROM: Thomas O. Mumgaard, Deputy City Attorney SUBJECT: Use of Interconnect Fee Grants to Acquire Television Equipment Attached are a draft resolution, cover letter, and amendment to the existing criteria for awarding cable television interconnect fee grants. The amendment prohibits using the grants to acquire equipment that is otherwise available from Cox Communications. The language that is changed is found on page 2 and is underlined. The ordinance controlling the use of these funds requires the Cable Television Advisory Committee to adopt criteria and procedures which may then be approved by the City Council. Please present this proposed amendment to the CTAC for its consideration. The CTAC should then either recommend approval or disapproval of the amendment or propose an alternative amendment. I will be unable to attend the September 13, 2004, CTAC meeting but will be available to answer questions when I return to the office. Respectfully submitted, • � /12 j� / I• -��' ✓Le. Thomas O. Mumgaard' Deputy City Attorney Attachment • Honorable President D `;_FT and Members of the City Council, The attached Resolution is submitted at the request of the City Council Law Department Committee. The resolution approves amendments to the criteria used to award moneys from the cable interconnect fee fund. This fund is established by Omaha Municipal Code §19-425. Cox Communications and cable companies that interconnect with Cox and use community and governmental access programming supplied by Cox contribute moneys to the fund. The money may only be used to promote and assist public, community, and governmental access programming. The City Council has approved procedures and criteria controlling the award of interconnect fund grants. The criteria state, among other things: "All monies shall be used exclusively to promote and assist public, community, or governmental access cable television programming. Such uses may include,but not be limited to: advertising and promoting access programming; producing and distributing a program guide for the access programs; purchasing, renting, or otherwise obtaining equipment to be used by the access programmers to supplement the equipment provided by Cox Communications,Inc.; and paying unusual expenses necessarily incurred in producing access programming." "In awarding funding, preference shall be given to proposals or projects that are innovative, expand services, improve the quality of programming, or increase the awareness of access programming." Questions have arisen about whether these grants should be used to purchase equipment such as video cameras that could be checked out from the public access studio maintained by Cox Communications. Grants for these purposes have been made in the past but it has proven difficult to keep track of the equipment and to know whether it continues to be used for cable television access programs. In addition,such grants don't fit well within the Council's direction that equipment should supplement the equipment already available. The attached amendment to the criteria has been prepared in order to clarify the City's policy on awarding interconnect fee grants for television programming equipment. If this change is adopted,interconnect fee grants can be made to acquire equipment only if there is a showing that the applicant has a particular need for the equipment and that it is not otherwise available. Respectfully submitted, Thomas O. Mumgaard • Arrtir , . ubeict to Z,viP::1 RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OMAHA: WHEREAS,the City of Omaha cable television system franchises require payment to the City when interconnecting the system with other franchised systems and receiving programs via that interconnection, such payments commonly being referred to as "interconnect fees"; and, WHEREAS, Omaha Municipal Code section 19-425 authorizes the expenditure of interconnect fees to promote and assist public, community, or governmental access cable programming, and directs that interconnect fees may be disbursed only in compliance with application criteria and procedures approved by the City Council; and, WHEREAS, such application procedures and criteria have been adopted and approved; and, WHEREAS,the Omaha Cable Television Advisory Committee recommends that the adopted criteria should be amended as shown on the attached document and recommends the City Council approve the amendments. NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OMAHA: THAT,pursuant to Omaha Municipal Code section 19-425,the adopted procedures and criteria to obtain an award of cable television system interconnect fees should be and hereby are amended as shown on the attached document. APPROVED AS TO FORM: DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY a F: CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES APPLICANT QUALIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES 1. At the time the application is submitted, all applicants must meet one or more of the following criteria: (a) Be a resident of an area served by a cable television system holding a franchise with the City of Omaha. (b) Be a governmental entity, religious organization, or accredited educational institution. (c) Be a non-profit organization meeting Access Policies adopted by Cox Communications, Inc., or the City of Omaha. 2. All applications shall describe in detail the purchases or projects for which the money will be used. This description shall provide any information required by the Cable Television Advisory Committee Interconnect Fee Review Subcommittee, including identifying the sources from which purchases will be made, the anticipated use of any equipment or property purchased,the anticipated ownership of any equipment or property purchased, the length of time during which the funded project will be conducted, and the community interests to be served by the purchase or project. An itemized budget for the purchase or project shall be submitted with the application. The application must be typewritten on a form approved by the Subcommittee and shall be signed by the person making application or a person authorized to act on behalf of an applying organization. 3. Applications shall describe a measurement method by which the success or failure of the project will be gauged. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROJECTS OR PURCHASES 1. All monies shall be used exclusively to promote and assist public, community, or governmental access cable television programming. Such uses may include,but not be limited to: advertising and promoting access programming;producing and distributing a program guide for the access programs; purchasing, renting, or otherwise obtaining equipment to be used by the access programmers to supplement the equipment provided by Cox Communications, Inc.; and paying unusual expenses necessarily incurred in producing access programming. 2. No monies may be directly or indirectly received by any cable television system holding a franchise with the City of Omaha. Current 04 vt14:0 CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES Page 2 of 4 3. Funding will be provided in a manner determined by the City Council. The preferred method of funding shall be through reimbursement of verified expenses or an imprest fund administered by the Finance Department. An applicant may submit justification for funding as a non-repayable grant payable upon approval. The amount of any award will be determined based on the needs of the proposal and the availability of funds. 4. In awarding funding, preference shall be given to proposals or projects that are innovative, expand services, improve the quality of programming, or increase the awareness of access programming. 5. Funding may not be used to replace funding used by the applicant prior to the application for ordinary operational or production expenses. Requests for funds to pay salaries or other general overhead will not normally be considered. 6. Funding shall not be provided to projects that are commercial in nature. 7. All applicants must establish that they have sufficient expertise, funding, and personnel to complete the project or proposal. 8. Funding will not be provided for cameras or other equipment reasonably available from Cox Communications or any other franchisee for use by the applicant. Any application asking for funding for equipment of any type must demonstrate a particular need for the equipment that cannot be reasonably met by equipment available from a franchisee. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES 1. Only one application for funding may be submitted by a person or organization during any calendar year. Applications for funding must be submitted on or before December 31 of each year to the Omaha City Council. Submitted applications will be forwarded to the Review Subcommittee for review without additional City Council action. Review shall occur on a schedule set by the Review Subcommittee. The City Council staff shall provide the Review Subcommittee members with copies of the applications and supporting documentation. Summaries of the applications and supporting documentation may be provided in lieu of the applications if the Review Subcommittee so directs. 2. The Cable Television Advisory Committee shall establish an Interconnect Fee Review Subcommittee consisting of four (4) or more members selected from CTAC. The Review Subcommittee shall meet and review all applications for funding from the interconnect fee fund established by Omaha Municipal Code section 19-425. Members of the Review Subcommittee shall be appointed in the same manner as members of standing committees. Current 04 IORAL Sut etet t� , CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES Page 3 of 4 3. The Review Subcommittee shall report to the Cable Television Advisory Committee its recommendations for approval or disapproval for each application. The Cable Television Advisory Committee shall submit to the City Council its recommendations for approval or disapproval of all applications for funding together with a designation of the manner of payment. The recommendations shall be based upon the funding criteria and procedures approved by the City Council. 4. At such times as determined by the Review Subcommittee, every organization or person receiving funding shall submit to the Subcommittee progress reports describing in detail the use of its interconnect funding. Within thirty (30) days after completion of the project or all purchases funded by interconnect fees, the organization or person receiving funding shall submit a final narrative or videotape report evaluating the success of the project or purchase keyed to the measures of success identified in the application. In addition,the report shall include an itemized expenditure report and such other information as is required by the Review Subcommittee. All unused funds shall be promptly returned to the City and the Review Subcommittee shall be notified. All reports shall be forwarded to the Finance Department. 5. The City reserves the right to discontinue any funding or deny future funding if the organization or person violates any law,engages in any activity injurious to the City's interests, fails to make satisfactory progress or comply with any approved criteria or procedures, or uses any funding for purposes other than identified in the approved application. 6. All organizations or persons receiving funding shall maintain all records,books,and accounts as are deemed necessary by the Finance Department to assure proper accounting of all funded expenditures. Such records,books,and accounts shall be kept for one year beyond submission of the final report. Any representative of the City or CTAC designated by the Review Subcommittee shall have access to any books,documents,papers and records of the organization or person which relates to the proposal funded by interconnect fees for the purpose of making audit, examination,excerpts, and transcriptions. 7. To the extent warranted, any purchase of equipment with interconnect fee monies shall be made only after the proposed purchase is reviewed by Cox Communications Omaha or its successor franchisee to determine compatibility with other cable television service equipment and to determine that the purchase price is not excessive. Review shall include Cox obtaining a price quote from vendors acceptable to Cox. To the extent possible purchases shall be made from such vendors at that price and payment shall be made directly from the City to the vendor upon documentation submitted by Cox. Equipment purchased in this manner shall be delivered first to Cox, who shall verify the purchase and provide appropriate training or direction to the purchaser in how to use the equipment. Current 04 —KC rtoCk • `,Sube\`' k° CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR USE OF CABLE TELEVISION INTERCONNECT FEES Page 4 of 4 8. Any equipment (including durable goods or material) purchased with interconnect fee moneys shall be the property of the person or organization receiving the award of funds but, to the extent described in this paragraph, the City shall retain an interest in certain equipment. All equipment obtained with interconnect fee moneys shall be used only for the purposes described in the application for funding. Any single piece of equipment obtained primarily with interconnect fee moneys and having a purchase price listed, below (exclusive of taxes and shipping), shall be transferred to the City of Omaha and shall become the property of the City of Omaha if the person or organization receiving funding does not regularly use the equipment for the described purpose during the designated time period following the award of funding. PURCHASE PRICE TIME PERIOD At least $2,000.00 but less than $5,000.00 2 years At least $5,000.00 but less than $15,000.00 4 years $15,000.00 or greater 6 years The person receiving funding or an authorized representative of an organization receiving funding shall in the progress reports required by these criteria certify compliance with this paragraph. 9. A copy of these criteria and procedures shall be provided along with the initial payment of funds or authorization to draw funds from an account. Acceptance of interconnect funds shall signify agreement to comply with the terms upon which the funding is awarded. Current 04 C-25A . �� CITY OF OMAHA LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER Omaha,Nebraska RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OMAHA: WHEREAS, the City of Omaha cable television system franchises require payment to the City when interconnecting the system with other franchised systems and receiving programs via that interconnection, such payments commonly being referred to as "interconnect fees"; and, WHEREAS, Omaha Municipal Code section 19-425 authorizes the expenditure of interconnect fees to promote and assist public, community, or governmental access cable programming, and directs that interconnect fees may be disbursed only in compliance with application criteria and procedures approved by the City Council; and, WHEREAS, such application procedures and criteria have been adopted and approved; and, WHEREAS, the Omaha Cable Television Advisory Committee recommends that the adopted criteria should be amended as shown on the attached document and recommends the City Council approve the amendments. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OMAHA: THAT, pursuant to Omaha Municipal Code section 19-425, the adopted procedures and criteria to obtain an award of cable television system interconnect fees should be and hereby are amended as shown on the attached document. APPROVd✓D'AS TO FORM: 4,/ CITY A��ORgEY DATE P:\Law1\15019maf.doc pay40. . By if Councilmember Adopted SE"p 2 8 2004 6 -d • .C.Ariait/ 9:2?-af City Clerk Approved - - - ` Mayor o Cr o o CD 7y c 0 CA CD I 0 A. (. W 6- ' CA CID \ ,, "' o O ,--t ..-,• ,-1- 4S.N L p 4 0 0-*1 Q.,'-a �.,. x °, Q. - p`l fJ