The City and Bresnan Communications, LLC (known as Charter Communications) are negotiating a cable television franchise agreement that will replace one that expired July 9, 2017. The City Council previously approved term extensions.so that negotiations and exchange of redlined versions of a new draft franchise agreement can continue. Staff and Community Channel Seven General manager Tim Harrington have previously proposed additional changes and sent revisions to the franchise agreement that require Charter's review and approval.  Charter has indicated it needs additional time to review the current draft from the City and to arrange a conference call for further discussions. Staff is recommending a franchise agreement extension to  October 9, 2018, to conclude the negotiations, present the revisions to the Mayor and Council and allow adequate public notice and hearing for the proposed 10-year renewal. A Resolution providing for and approving this extension is attached to this memo.

City Council may:

• Approve the extension, or;
• Disapprove the extension, allowing the current agreement to lapse.

The franchise agreement fee is expected to produce about $1.8 million in revenue for the City of Billings for Fiscal Year 2018.

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Resolution that extends the Bresnan/Charter franchise agreement term to October 9, 2018.