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WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners on October 1, 2003 adopted at second reading a <br />franchise renewal ordinance with Time Warner Cable that represented the "best offer" from the Orange <br />County Cable Advisory Committee as agreed to by the Board; and <br />WHEREAS, the Time Warner Cable representative attending the meeting spoke against approval of the <br />franchise renewal ordinance and stated that only "1 or 2 small issues" separated the County and the cable <br />operator; and <br />WHEREAS, Time Warner Cable officially responded to the Caunty on October 31, 2003 in a letter indicating <br />that the adopted ordinance was not acceptable, and that they wished to discuss with the County whether <br />the parties could continue informal negotiations or resort to the formal negotiation process; and <br />WHEREAS, County staff responded by requesting a written statement on the "1 or 2 small issues" that could be <br />addressed jointly over a reasonable period of time, given a history of prolonged and often unproductive informal <br />negotiations; and <br />WHEREAS, Time Warner Cable responded on February 17, 2004 by submitting a revised franchise <br />ordinance, which while it reflects concessions on density requirements for cable service extension and <br />discounted costs to the County for cable modem, still presents areas of challenge and concern far the <br />County on enforcement provisions and PEG (Public Education and Government) issues; and <br />WHEREAS, the Cable Advisory Committee appointed by the BOCC to serve as the citizen arm on franchise <br />renewal and customer complaints has reviewed the current situation and revised ordinance, and called <br />upon the BOCC to consider moving forward with a community needs assessment -the prerequisite to <br />undertaking the more expensive and adversarial, yet more decisive formal franchise renewal process; and <br />WHEREAS, the BOCC has an interest in initiating another round of "good faith" negotiations with Time <br />Warner Cable, but utilizing the services of a neutral, third party facilitator, so as to thoroughly exhaust the <br />informal negotiation process before moving forward with the formal negotiation process; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners authorizes the <br />Cable Advisory Committee in conjunction with the County Manager's Office to re-enter informal negotiations <br />on the cable franchise renewal ordinance with Time Warner Cable, utilizing the services of a neutral, third <br />party facilitator, and that a report be made to the BOCC on results by the beginning of May 2004 so that, if <br />necessary, any funding implications for formal negotiations could be evaluated as part of the annual budget <br />process for Fiscal Year 2004-05. <br />Adopted this the 16th day of March, 2004. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />6. Special Presentations <br />a. Potential Impacts of Federal "No Child Left Behind" Legislation <br />The Board received an assessment from the County's two school systems of the potential <br />impacts of "No Child Left Behind". <br />John Link said that in 2002 Congress and the President signed into law No Child Left Behind. <br />This was the objective to address each child in the United States in terms of pursuing an excellent <br />education for each child. Since that time, many have expressed concerns about this law and what it <br />requires of each school system. Recently, the Board of Caunty Commissioners has asked both school <br />systems to report on this law and its meaning to each school system in terms of its impact. Dr. Shirley <br />Carraway from Orange County Schools has worked on this with Neil Pedersen from Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br />