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Seaside Park to name specific municipal buildings for cable franchise free service; internet request remains contested
Summary
Council agreed to designate particular municipal buildings for free cable service and to request one free internet connection in the franchise agreement; the cable company asked for a defined building list rather than open-ended language.
At the March 19 work session the Seaside Park council discussed amendments to the town’s cable franchise ordinance to identify which municipal buildings should receive free cable service and whether to request one free internet connection from the franchisee.
Council members and municipal counsel said the franchise attorney objected to broad, unspecified language; the company asked the borough to list the specific buildings it wanted included. The council agreed to identify buildings (police station, public works, community center and the municipal building were discussed as inclusions) and to tell the company which building should receive one free internet connection. An Altice-related settlement previously yielded funds for the borough, but the franchise discussion concerns a different corporate entity.
Attorney and staff comments noted that cable providers typically resist providing internet service as part of franchise in-kind compensation because an internet connection can be used to stream content independent of cable carriage. Council members said they would provide the requested building list and, if the company insisted on ordinance-language changes, the council could amend the ordinance formally in a future meeting.
No formal vote on the ordinance amendment took place during the work session; staff will follow up with the company and counsel before the regular meeting.
