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Gilpin holds public hearing to begin Comcast franchise renewal process
Summary
Gilpin Township opened a public hearing under the Federal Cable Act to review Comcast’s service and begin franchise-renewal negotiations; board members flagged opportunities to increase franchise fees and to require faster tree/line response times from the operator.
Gilpin Township opened a public hearing to begin the franchise-renewal process for the township’s cable operator, the board chair said, citing the Federal Cable Act as the governing statute. The hearing invited residents to comment on the operator’s past performance and the community’s future cable needs.
Committee members said the renewal is an opportunity to increase quarterly franchise-fee revenue and to press for operational improvements. “There is potential here to up our income a little bit with the renewal of this franchise,” a board member said, noting recent changes in revenue definitions that could raise the township’s share. Another member urged the board to use the renewal to require faster response times for trees on lines, saying the township’s public-safety concerns and repeated outages make service standards a priority.
The public hearing closed at 6:21 p.m.; the board discussed next steps for negotiating terms with the operator and work with outside counsel and intermunicipal partners to seek the best possible agreement.
