The City and Bresnan Communications, LLC (known as Charter Communications) are negotiating a renewal of the current cable television franchise agreement that will replace the agreement that expired July 9, 2017. That agreement has been extended by the Council several times to allow continued negotiations and finalization of a franchise renewal with Charter. With the retirement of City Attorney Brooks, the City Attorney's office needs additional time to finalize this agreement.  Staff intends to have this agreement finalized within the next few months but is requesting an extension until the end of the year to allow adequate time to finalize any necessary details. This is intended to be the final extension of the current franchise barring any unforeseen difficulties.  

City Council may:

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

The franchise fee is expected to produce about $1,300,176 in revenue for the City of Billings for Fiscal Year 2021.

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Resolution extending the current Bresnan/Charter franchise agreement term through December 31, 2021.