Lakeville select board approves legal services to negotiate Verizon cable license

The Town of Lakeville Select Board voted June 2 to retain legal services to assist the town’s Cable Advisory Board in negotiations with Verizon on a cable license renewal.

The contract under consideration is for legal representation to negotiate terms of a five-year Verizon franchise, including PEG access and other community support. Town Administrator Andrew said the select board budgeted $5,000 for legal services and that the town has used attorney Bill August for similar negotiations for about a decade.

“...we budgeted 5,000. Should be enough, but you never know if we'll have to just figure it out as the time comes depending on how the negotiation goes. And we've used Bill August, I think, at least 10 years,” Andrew said.

Board members discussed concerns about fees that support Lakeville’s community access channel (“Lake Cam”) and about how the town and the Cable Advisory Board will coordinate with counsel. A resident raised broader questions about federal and state rules that affect cable access funding and declining revenues for community access channels.

The motion to authorize legal services for negotiation with Verizon was made, seconded and approved by roll call; officials said the contract term will generally run until the negotiation concludes rather than for a fixed calendar period. Board members said the outside counsel will work with the Cable Advisory Board and bring final agreements back to the select board for review and signature.

The board did not finalize the negotiated franchise in the meeting. The select board and the Cable Advisory Board will take part in the negotiations led by counsel and will review the final agreement before the board signs any franchise contract.