Consider and take action authorizing Lloyd Gosselink, Attorneys at Law to enter into a Settlement Agreement with Comcast of Houston, LLC.
 

On December 20, 2017, the City Commission authorized Lloyd Gosselink, Attorneys at Law to enter into a law suit against Comcast of Houston, LLC., (Comcast) on behalf of a coalition of fourteen other area cities alleging that Comcast underpaid cable service franchise fees over a period of 5 plus years.  The Commission authorized participation in the suit with the approval of Resolution NO. 17-088.  The terms of the agreement with Lloyd Gosselink were that all fourteen cities would share in the cost of the suit on a pro rata percentage basis in order to participate in the Law Suit against Comcast.  Any and all proceeds resulting from a favorable outcome of the law suit would be paid out on that same pro rata basis to those cities that participated in the suit.  The initial estimated cost for the City of Texas City's to participate in the suit was $18,645 based on the participation of all fourteen Cities.  

After several years of back and forth deliberations between Lloyd Gosselink and Comcast, representatives from both parties engaged in formal mediation on December 8, 2020 to resolve all outstanding issues between the parties.  After several hours of mediation, Comcast agreed to pay a total of $235,000 to be divided among the cities on the pro rata percentage basis as originally agreed upon by each City.  In exchange, the parties will execute a settlement agreement and mutual release of claims regarding the dispute of the past past franchise fees to the date of the final Settlement Agreement, including the dismissal of the lawsuit.

In summary, the case is set for trail in the fall of 2021, however, will likely be heard long before that time.  Just prior to the aforementioned mediation, Comcast filed a Motion for Summary Judgement attacking the cities' theories supporting judgement.  While the case likely would have survived the Motion for Summary Judgment, the cities would have incurred additional legal fees responding to the Motion.  Additionally, Comcast made it abundantly clear that it was prepared to take the matter through trial and on to future appeals to the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court if necessary.  Based on the facts of the case and the additional estimated cost to the cities to continue with the suit, the recommendation from Lloyd Gosselink is for all cities to adopt the settlement terms. 

The Law firm of Lloyd Gosselink have agreed to absorb a portion of their attorney's fees to ensure that all cities receive the same amount paid to participate in the suit.
 

The coalition of cities discussed the possibility of continuing on with the law suit however, based on the additional estimated costs to respond to the Motion for Summary Judgment and the additional costs to continue with the suit, it was the consensus of the participating cities to go with the recommendation from Lloyd Gosselink and adopt the settlement terms.