Council renews cable franchise; members press Encore on responsiveness to pole relocations and service requests

The City Council approved a 20-year franchise renewal with Encore (agenda item 28) that allows Encore to use the city’s rights-of-way. The renewal passed after staff said the contract was standard and outside counsel had reviewed it.

Council discussion focused on constituent complaints and project delays rather than contract language. Councilman Stoker pressed Encore’s representative, Gus Ortega, about two pole relocations the councilman said had been in engineering review for two years. Stoker said delays were hampering scheduled private projects and asked how the city could hold the company to service standards for priority municipal or economic-development projects.

Encore’s representative acknowledged the complaint, explained the complexity of moving high-voltage or double-circuit lines (noting coordination, outage avoidance and contractor scheduling), and said the company had a timeline for completing the line work in mid-April. City staff and Encore agreed to continue coordination to limit disruption and to confirm a schedule.

Council voted to approve the franchise renewal; no changes to the draft franchise language were offered during the meeting. Stoker and other council members asked staff to maintain follow-up on the pole moves and to work with Encore to improve responsiveness for special projects.

The franchise agreement was filed for signature after the vote; Stoker’s remarks were recorded as a request for improved coordination and greater accountability on certain construction and pole-move timelines.