Work Session

Mayor and Council Work Session October 25, 2022 Agenda "The City of Hagerstown will inspire an inclusive, business-friendly, and sustainable community with clean, safe, and vibrant neighborhoods." "The City of Hagerstown shall be a community focused municipality" 6:00 PM WORK SESSION 6:00 PM 1. Work Session Agenda 6:00 PM 2. Comcast Cable Franchise Agreement ~ Scott Nicewarner, City Administrator 6:20 PM 3. Rental Licensing Amendment ~ Kathy Maher, Director of Planning & Code Administration and Paul Fulk, Neighborhood Services Manager CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S COMMENTS MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS ADJOURN  REQUIRED MOTION MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND Topic: Work Session Agenda Mayor and City Council Action Required: Discussion: Financial Impact: Recommendation: Motion: Action Dates: ATTACHMENTS: File Name Description October_25__2022_Work_Session.pdf Work Session Agenda  MAYOR AND COUNCIL WORK SESSION OCTOBER 25, 2022 AGENDA “The City of Hagerstown will inspire an inclusive, business-friendly, and sustainable community with clean, safe and vibrant neighborhoods.” “The City of Hagerstown shall be a community focused municipality.” The agenda and meeting packet is available at www.hagerstownmd.org/government/agenda ********************************************************************************************** “There’s only one growth strategy: work hard.” -William Hague ********************************************************************************************** 6:00 p.m. WORK SESSION 6:00 p.m. 1. Comcast Cable Franchise Agreement ~ Scott Nicewarner, City Administrator 6:20 p.m. 2. Rental Licensing Amendment – Kathleen Maher, Director of Planning and Code Administration, and Paul Fulk, Neighborhood Services Manager 7:00 p.m. REGULAR SESSION ** Please note all times are approximate and subject to change. Meetings are televised and recorded. ** City Hall • Council Chamber • 1 East Franklin Street • Hagerstown, MD 21740 301.739.8577, Ext. 113 • Telephone for the Hearing Impaired 301.797.6617  REQUIRED MOTION MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND Topic: Comcast Cable Franchise Agreement ~ Scott Nicewarner, City Administrator Mayor and City Council Action Required: Discussion: Financial Impact: Recommendation: Motion: Action Dates: ATTACHMENTS: File Name Description 2022_Comcast_.pdf Comcast Cable Franchise Agreement  CITY OF HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND Scott A. Nicewarner City Administrator One East Franklin Street • Hagerstown, MD 21740 E-mail: snicewarner@hagerstownmd.org Telephone: 301.766.4168 • TDD: 301.797.6617 October 18, 2022 TO: Mayor and Council FROM: Scott Nicewarner, City Administrator RE: Comcast Cable Franchise Agreement A tentative agreement has been reached with Comcast regarding a cable franchise agreement allowing Comcast to offer cable television services within the corporate boundary of Hagerstown. The key points to the tentative agreement are: 1) Cable service gross revenues broadly defined for franchise fee purposes 2) Franchise non-exclusive 3) Term- 5 years plus 5 unless one party objects 4) Competitive equity with Antietam Franchise 5) Franchise fees- 5% of cable service gross revenues (not on internet or phone) 6) City's right to audit 7) Indemnification and Insurance for the City 8) Comcast to provide a $50,000 letter of credit 9) Customer Service Standards included 10) Monthly subscriber Educational/Governmental Access fee (70 cents) 11) Supplemental subscriber monthly fee of 10 cents for potentially 8 years (in lieu of I-Net) 12) 2 Access Channels- Standard Def. and High Def. 13) System build-out to reach 85% of homes, if Franchise goes beyond 5 years 14) Complimentary cable service to 15 locations There is also a side letter regarding the fees associated with undertaking this agreement with the City. The key points are: 1) Comcast to pay $25,000 application fee, per the City Code 2) Comcast to reimburse the City for its additional consultants fees above $25K; those additional amounts can be offset against future franchise fees owed to the City As stated, the requirements of this franchise agreement need to be, in total, not more favorable or less burdensome than Antietam’s franchise. Our communications consultants, Bob Duchen and Tom Robinson, will be on a ZOOM video link to go over these points and take any questions you may have. A timeline for public hearing, ordinance introduction and approval will be provided as well.  REQUIRED MOTION MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND Topic: Rental Licensing Amendment ~ Kathy Maher, Director of Planning & Code Administration and Paul Fulk, Neighborhood Services Manager Mayor and City Council Action Required: Discussion: Financial Impact: Recommendation: Motion: Action Dates: ATTACHMENTS: File Name Description Rental_Licensing_Amendment_Work_Session_10.19.22.pdf Rental Licensing Amendment