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extend the subject contract through, at minimum, October 31, 2003; and to authorize the <br />County Manager to provide written notice to APS of the renewal of the contract with APS <br />as provided in the contract addendum until further action by the Board. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />9. ITEMS FOR DECISION--REGULAR AGENDA <br />a. First Reading -Ordinance Granting Franchise to Time Warner <br />The Board reviewed and considered approval of the first reading of a cable franchise <br />renewal ordinance {agreement) with Time Warner EntertainmentlAdvance-Newhouse <br />Partnership, as recommended by the Orange County Cable Advisory Committee, in <br />conjunction with the Triangle J Cable Consortium consultant collaborative; and <br />considered a second reading and formal adoption of the cable television franchise <br />ordinance to be scheduled for the Board's next meeting on September 16th. <br />John Link said that the Cable Advisory Committee has worked to put forth <br />information for the franchise agreement. He made reference to the letter from Time <br />Warner's attorney and said that he would urge the Board to be proactive and to pursue <br />what it thinks would be important as items in a franchise to serve the citizens of Orange <br />County and then let the chips fall where they may as it relates to the response from Time <br />Warner. <br />Commissioner Carey said that he wants to make responses after the committee <br />members make their comments. He is very upset about the letter from Time Warner. <br />He wished that representatives from Time Warner could be in attendance tonight. <br />Michael Patrick, Chair of the Cable Advisory Committee, gave a short history of this <br />process. Around 1995, informal negotiations began between Orange County and Time <br />Warner that lasted for about a year and a half. There was a negotiation committee <br />separate from the advisory committee and there were several meetings with Time <br />Warner representatives that were unproductive. Triangle J then started its own <br />negotiations on a region-wide basis and Orange County joined in the process. Triangle <br />J then came up with a model franchise that was supposedly agreed upon between <br />Triangle J and Time Warner to take back the local franchising authorities. The advisory <br />committee had a few concerns about the model and began tweaking it in 2000. Starting <br />in 2001, Orange County tried to communicate with Time Warner and received no <br />response. At the beginning of 2002, the committee came to the Board to try and get the <br />ball moving and Gwen Harvey tried to communicate with Time Warner. They eventually <br />convened some meetings with Time Warner and Time Warner said that they did not like <br />the Triangle J model franchise and they provided an agreement that stripped out any <br />obligation to do a number of things that are important. The committee did not agree with <br />this and they do not know what Time Warner is going to do. He said that they are not <br />going to get anywhere until they force the issue, and this is what they are asking the <br />Board to do. <br />Particularly, the density issue has always been important in Orange County. Under <br />the existing ordinance, the obligation of the franchising authority to extend service is at <br />21 homes per mile. Triangle J proposed 30 homes per mile. The committee felt that the <br />extension obligation should be 18 homes per mile in order to serve the unincorporated <br />areas of the County. Time Warner says that it does not want to have the obligation to <br />extend service except when it feels like it, essentially. Time Warner wants no density <br />obligation in Orange County. <br />