HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance - 2003-O0137 - Amending Sect. 11 Of Ordinance 8961 Granting Franchise To NTS Communicaiton - 12/18/2003First Reading
December 18, 2003
Item No. 17
ORDINANCE NO. 2003-00137
Second Reading
January 8~ 2004
Item Ho. 15
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 11 OF ORDINANCE NO. 8961
GRANTING A FRANCHISE TO NTS COMMUNlCATION, INC., TO CONDUCT WITHIN
THE CITY OF LUBBOCK A TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS; PROVIDING
THAT THE FRANCHISE FEE SHALL BE BASED UPON ACCESS LINE FEES;
PROVIDING THAT SECTIONS NOT AMENDED SHALL REMAIN THE SAME;
PROVIDING FOR ACCEPTANCE OF THE FRANCHISE AMENDMENT; PROVIDING FOR
PUBLICATION; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND PROVIDING A SAVINGS
CLAUSE.
WHEREAS, the City of Lubbock has heretofore on September 11, 1986, enacted
Ordinance No. 8961 granting a franchise to NTS Communications, Inc., to conduct a telephone
business within the City of Lubbock; and
WHEREAS, the City of Lubbock and NTS Communications, Inc., desire to amend said
Ordinance granting such franchise as is hereinafter set forth; NOW THEREFORE:
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK:
SECTION 1. THAT section 11 of Ordinance No. 8961 is hereby amended to read as
follows:
SECTION 11. THAT as compensation and rental for the use of the streets, alleys
and public ways of the City in the conduct of its business under this franchise, Company
shall pay City a fee in accordance with the access line fees established pursuant to
Chapter 283 of the Local Government Code by the Public Utility Commission of Texas
for non-franchised telecommunications providers within the City.
SECTION 2. THAT all provisions of Ordinance No. 8961 not specifically amended
hereby shall be unchanged and shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 3. THAT Company shall within 30 days from the date of final passage of this
Ordinance by the City Council file with the City Secretary of the City of Lubbock an Acceptance
of this amendment executed by an officer of the Company duly authorized by its Board of
Directors to execute such Acceptance in the following form:
"The Honorable Mayor and City Council of the City of Lubbock:
NTS Communications, Inc., for itself, its successors and assigns, hereby
accepts the attached Ordinance as finally passed by the City Council of Lubbock on the
_ day of ______ , 200_, and agrees to be bound by all of its provisions.
NTS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.:
BY: -----------
TITLE:---------
DATE: ---------
SECTION 4. THAT the full text of this Ordinance, as finally proposed to be passed shall
be published once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation published in the City of Lubbock, and the expense of such publication shall be borne
by the Company.
SECTION 5. THAT in accordance with the Charter of the City of Lubbock, this
Ordinance shall become effective 30 days from the last publication of this ordinance, which
publication was upon the 5th day of January , 200i.4.
SECTION 6. THAT should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word of
this Ordinance be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, the remainder of this
Ordinance shall not be affected thereby.
AND ITIS SO ORDERED.
Passed by City Council on first reading the 18th day of December , 200L.
Passed by City Council on second reading the 8th day of _____ __,~,, 200 ~-
ATTEST:
Re~Garza,CitySecretary ?3"
APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
2
APPROVED AS TO FORM
-d,, ( I l-'t '7 JJ! ~ 'IS-~/ J j_( ~ t Ji\t~
Doii'ald G. V~ er, Attorney of Counsel
Ddord/NTSTeleFrnnA mend
December 2, 2003
3
October 28, 2003
Mr. Donald G. Vandiver
Assistant City Attorney
City Attorney's Office
P .0. Box 2000
Lubbock, Texas 79457
OCT 2 9 2003
crrv AYlOf~N~V
Re: Proposed Amendment to Franchise Ordinance of NTS Communications, Inc.
Dear Don:
As you know, NTS Communications, Inc., is in the business of providing
telecommunications services to persons in the City of Lubbock. On September 11,
1986, the City of Lubbock granted NTS a telecommunications franchise in Ordinance
8961. NTS and the City of Lubbock have been operating under that franchise since it
was approved.
In 1999, the Texas Legislature passed HB 1777 which granted telecommunications
service providers authority to occupy municipal rights of way without obtaining
franchised authority from the individual municipalities. That law specifically gave
telecommunications companies, like NTS, the option to continue to operate under any
existing franchise agreements or "opt out" of the those franchises. At the time, NTS
elected to operate under its existing franchises.
In the summer of 2000, the City approached NTS and demanded that NTS remit the
municipal fee established by the Public Utility Commission for all access lines which
NTS acquired from SBC via resale or UNE-P. The City continued to be compensated at
the franchise rate for any services provided over NTS' facilities. NTS continues to
compensate the City in that manner.
NTS is in the process of converting to a new billing system. ln the process of setting up
the billing system, NTS and programmer have experienced great difficulty in creating a
mechanized system which can generate bills which charge different franchise fees or
municipal fees in accordance with the current payment methodology.
The time and expense of working through the problems might be worth if it would
generate a substantial savings to NTS. However, NTS' franchise Agreement expires in
2006. This would only be a short time for NTS to recoup the expense of developing the
billing system.
5387 W. Loop 289
Lubbock, TX 79414
1. 888,658.2150
fax: 806.788.3386
Donnl o Drnrl111-+-Dl"'"-i ,-"
Mr. Donald G. Vandiver
October 28, 2003
Page 2
Therefore, NTS would prefer to simply begin remitting the municipal fee as provided in
section 283.055 of the Texas Local Government Code. This would work to the benefit of
the City by increasing its access line revenue and it would benefit NTS by saving it the
time and expense of adapting a new billing system.
To that end, NTS has enclosed a draft Amendment to Ordinance No. 8961 for your
consideration. NTS would appreciate your prompt evaluation of this request as time is of
the essence.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. t,urRwL
ie . W~eeler ~
General Counsel
Enc.
Cc Barbara Andrews, CEO, NTS Communications, Inc.
Brad Worthington, COO, NTS Communications, Inc.
Jerry Hoover, CFO, NTS Communications, Inc.
AN AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE NO. 8961, AN ORDINANCE GRANTING
TO NTS COMMUNICATIONS, INC., THE RIGHT, PRIVILEGE AND FRANCHISE TO
CONDUCT WITHIN THE CITY OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS, A TELEPHONE
COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS AND TO ENTER UPON, ERECT, CONSTRUCT,
MAINTAIN, EXTEND, REPAIR, REPLACE AND REMOVE IN, UNDER, UPON, WITHIN,
OVER, ABOVE, ACROSS AND ALONG ANY AND ALL OF THE PRESENT AND
FUTURE PUBLIC ROADS, HIGHWAYS, STREETS, LANES AND ALLEYS OF THE
CITY OF LUBBOCK, A SYSTEM OF POLES, ANCHORS, CABLES, WIRES,
MANHOLES, CONDUITS, AND OTHER PLANT CONSTRUCTION AND
APPURTENANCES NECESSARY OR PROPER FOR THE BUSINESS OF
FURNISHING TELEPHONE SERVICES INTO, IN WITHIN, FROM, ACROSS, AND
THROUGH THE CITY OF LUBBOCK, AS NOW EXISTING, OR AS SAID CITY LIMITS
MAY HEREAFTER BE EXTENDED, AND GRANTING NTS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.,
ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, THE AUTHORITY TO USE SUCH FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FURNISHING TELEPHONE SERVICES TO THE INAHBITANTS OF
THE CITY, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR PERSONS, FIRMS OR CORPORATIONS
WITHIN THE CITY.
Whereas, NTS Communications, Inc., (Company) has request that the City
Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas (City) grant this Amendment to Ordinance 8961
and it appearing to the City Council that the Amendment is expedient and wise, and will
be of benefit to both NTS Communications, Inc., and the City of the Lubbock; NOW
THEREFORE:
SECTION 11, shall deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
SECTION 11. THAT as compensation and rental for the use of the streets,
alleys and public ways of City in the conduct its business under this franchise,
Company shall pay City a fee in accordance with section 283.055 of the Texas
Local Government Code.
It is the express intent of the parties to modify only those portions of the
Franchise as specifically set out in this Amendment. Any and all other portions of the
Franchise not modified in this Amendment shall remain in full force and effect.
ACCEPTANCE OF ORDINANCE
The Honorable Mayor and City Council of the City of Lubbock:
NTS Communications, Inc., for itself and its successors and assigns, hereby accepts the
attached Ordinance No. 2003-00137 as finally passed by the City Council of Lubbock on
January 8, 2004, and agrees to be bound by iD provisions.
-B-ra-d---=W-o-~-h-in-g-to-n----'~-__,,._~-----
Chief Operating Officer
NTS Communications, Inc.
Date 1
January 28, 2004
HAND DELIVERED
Ms. Rebecca Garza
City Secretary
City of Lubbock
1625 13th Street
Lubbock, Texas 79401
RECEIVED
JAN 2 8 2004
CITY SECRETARY
LUBBOCK, TEXAS
Re: NTS Communications, Inc., Acceptance of Ordinance No. 2003-00137
Dear Ms. Garza:
Please find enclosed NTS' acknowledged Acceptance of the above referenced
Ordinance.
Thank you for your assistance. •~tru~l
--an I R. Wheeler V
General Counsel
Enc.
Cc Mr. Quincy White, Assistant City Manager, City of Lubbock
Ms. Anita Burgess, City Attorney, City of Lubbock
5307 W. Loop 289
Lubbock, TX 79414
1. 880. 658. 2150
fax : 806 .788 .3386
www .ntscom .com People Product Price
~-~NTS.
COMMUNICATIONS