The City and Bresnan Communications, LLC (known as Charter) continue to  negotiate a cable television franchise agreement that will replace one that expired July 9, 2017. The City Council previously approved term extensions so that negotiations could continue. Staff and Community Channel Seven General Manager Tim Harrington met on March 7, 2018, and have proposed additional revisions to the franchise agreement that require Charter's review and approval.  Staff is recommending a franchise agreement extension to June 4, 2018, to conclude the negotiations on a small number of unresolved but significant issues, present the Franchise Renewal revisions to the Mayor and Council through First and Second Readings of an ordinance 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.

There is no cost associated with the extension, but the agreement's franchise 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 March 26, 2018.