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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15.F.8. Bradley & Guzzetta Telecommunications Consulting Services CITY OF SHAKOPEE / s-. F: 8'~ Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Telecommunications Recommendation DATE: December 16, 2004 INTRODUCTION: The Council is asked to consider a revised proposal for telecommunication consulting services from Bradley and Guzzetta. I BACKGROUND: 1 i i At its meeting of December 7th, the Counci~ considered the proposal of Bradley and Guzzetta to provide telecommunication consulting services during the transition from the previous Assistant to the City Administratqr position, until a full time solution could be found. i i Council deferred action on that, citing a de~ire to have all members of the Council present for the discussion. There was also an indic~tion given that the proposal that had been presented was for too long a period of time; and Council was uncomfortable with having an outside consultant do some of this work ,on an ongoing basis. Following that discussion, I spoke with Tracy Schaefer, who had proposed this services on behalf of Bradley and Guzzetta. We reduced the duration of time from one year, to four months. If the Council approves, the formal relationship with Bradley and Guzzetta would cease at that time. Any additional assistance needed by the City from Bradley and Guzzetta would be done on an hourly basis. We also discussed the elimination of some of the scope of services proposed. As a result, Bradley and Guzzetta has returned with the attached proposal. Bill Anderson, the longest tenured-member of the Telecommunications Advisory Commission, has reviewed it. He offers these comments: (Under "Duties of the Administrator "): . Item 2. Adds an action item to review the compliance of Time-Warner on the renewed franchise conditions. This is.a high priority for TAC members. . Item 3. Would review requests for purchasing of hardware items. This would help to ensure that only the most necessary pieces of equipment are acquired. . 8 and 9. (6 and 7 under previous proposal) Provides for oversight of existing staff. B&G would not do scheduling or mundane sorts of supervision, but they would be able to help assure that scheduling of personnel is in compliance with the established policies and procedures of the cable studio. (Under "Proposed Legal Services" . Item 10. (Item 6 under previous proposal). Provides for assistance in the review of issues relating to the INET. While it is unlikely that many major items will arise during the term of this agreement (most future issues will relate to construction problems, which should be minimal during cold weather months), it is felt that having access to B&G's expertise will be worth adding this section under the retainer. Note that any needed legal opinions will be provided by attorneys in the firm. This would at least temporarily substitute for the legal advice on telecommunications, which had previously been provided by Kennedy and Graven. BUDGET IMPACT: Because this is funded entirely from the Telecommunications budget, there is no impact on the General Fund. The proposed cost ofthe revised proposal is $3270 per month for each ofthe four months; the previous proposal for one year was for $3654 per month. Assuming that the City has an employee at the end of the four-month time period that will be responsible for staff support for cable television, the decision can be made at that time not to extend at that time. RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that the proposal for transitional Telecommunications and Legal Services be approved. A permanent solution will need to be looked at the end of four months. Note that this revised proposal is being forwarded to the Telecommunications Advisory Commission. As of this writing, the full T AC has not had an opportunity to meet to formally review this. ACTION REQUIRED: If Council concurs, it should, by motion, direct the City to enter into afour-month agreement with Bradley and Guzzetta for transitional telecommunications con~ulting services. Mark McNeill City Administrator ~ Submitted to: City of Shakopee Mayor & City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator 129 South Holmes Street Shakopee, MN 55379 Bradley& Guzzetta, LLC Ms. Tracy J. Schaefer,.Senior Project Manager Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC 950 Piper J affray Plaza 444 Cedar Street Saint Paul,MN 55101 P/651-379-0900 F/651-379-0999 December 15, 2004 BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC MUNICIPAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL SERVICES Introduction Thank you for asking our firm to prepare a proposal for the provision of administrative and legal telecommunications services for the City of Shakopee (the "City"). Due to changes in city staff, the City is currently reviewing its telecommunications focus and future needs, and Bradley & Guzzetta ("B&G") believes that our firm can assist the City of Shakopee in making a successful transition while not decreasing customer service for its residents and keeping cost low. The staff at B&G have significant administrative and legal experience in.allowing an entity like the City to engage B&G on a not to exceed rate as well as a reduced hourly fee basis for additional telecommunications administration and legal services. By engaging B&G in an administrative and legal capacity, the City will save thousands of dollars, while continuing to move forward with its important telecommunications goals & objectives. Municipal Telecommunications Administrative Experience B&G is based in Saint Paul and is the only law firm that serves as both the telecommunications administrator and legal counsel for cities cable television franchising authorities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. B&G has experienced staff dedicated to assist municipalities in cable and telecommunications regulation, planning and budgeting. By engaging B&G as telecommunications administrator and legal counsel, cities significantly reduce their costs. A full-time administrator position demands a salary of approximately $65,000.00 per year, plus benefits, training, equipment, conferences and support staff. B&Ghas extensive experience in the telecommunications administration and B&G provides its own support staff. In B&G's capacity as administrator, B&Gprepares agendas, administers city activities between meetings, prepares annual budgets, oversees INETs, communicates regularly with member city staffs, cable company, telecommunications commission and council persons, resolves cable subscriber complaints, and carries out the day-to-day telecommunications administrative functions of the city. In the South Washington County Telecommunications Commission, B&G managed six (6) full time staff persons and a full-time community/government programming operation. Under B&G's leadership, the government programming operation in South Washington County has been awarded two consecutive NATOA national awards for Overall Outstanding Government Programming in the country (2000-First place in the nation; 2001- Second place in the nation). Many individual programs produced under B&G's administration have won numerous first, second and third place national awards. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 1 III PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd"'" Guzzet:t:a~ LLC 12/17/2004 Tracy J. Schaefer, Senior Project Manager, (former Shakopee Assistant.. to the City Administrator) will be the city's main administrative contact. However, as needed, both Steve Guzzetta and Michael Bradley can provide telecommunications administrative support to the City of Shakopee. Mr. Guzzetta is a former Telecommunications Commissioner and current Shakopee resident, so he has a thorough understanding of current.. and. past Shakopee telecommunications issues. Mr. Bradley has served other cities and cable franchising authorities in the role of telecommunications administrator. Duties of the Administrator 1. General day-to-day cable franchise. administration. 2. Review Shakopee's renewed franchise and work with Time Warner to ensure completion on all new "action items" like hooking up city buildings, proper payments, and customer service. A status report will be delivered to the Telecommunications and City Council. 3. Assist City Administrator with telecommunications equipment purchasing. 4. Serve as liaison between Time Warner, Finance Department, and Public W orks/Engineering to ensure timely payment of permit fees, franchise compliance, and customer service issues. 5. Dedicated phone number to handle all cable-related questions and complaints from cable subscribers. in the City franchise area. Resolve all complaints with Time Warner in a timely manner. Complaints will be logged as to name, address, phone number and e-mail address. 6. Dedicated e-mail address to allow cable subscribers to e-mail questions and complaints. 7. Available by phone or e-mail during city business hours. 8. Coordinate City video programming needs with Telecommunications Commission, City Council, and City staff. 9. Coordinate public and government access needs with City staff contacts. 10. Dedicate staffthat is committed to cable television and telecommunications matters. :BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 2 III PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd- Guzzetta> LLC 12/17/2004 11. Dedicate staffto address Institutional Network issues. Serve as city's contact person for Joint Powers Agreement, INET expansion andlor issues, monitor and manage contractors related to city's INET and review any related basic service INET contracts. 12. Prepare all Commission agendas and packet material in consultation with the primary member City staff contacts. (City staff would copy and mail out monthly packet information. ) 13. Begin Telecommunications Commission annual goal & objective discussion to ensure a successful process. 14. Prepare all Commission/City Council briefings regarding telecommunications policies related to the City. 15. Prepare regular or as-needed written or in person briefings for City Council and primary staff contacts. 16. Prepare options and recommendations to the Commission (in consultation with the primary staff contact). 17. Attend monthly Telecommunications Commission meeting and City Council meetings, as needed. 18. Attend city/county department meetings as necessary with City staff. 19. Keep.public and government access policies/procedures up-to-date. Municipal Cable Legal Experience B&G was founded by Michael R. Bradley and Stephen J. Guzzetta to represent municipalities in cable and telecommunications and municipal matters. B&G represents a wide variety of municipal clients ranging from large cities to small cities to municipal joint powers commissions. B&G also represents several access television non-profit organizations. Representative clients include Urbandale, Iowa, West Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nashville, Tennessee, and Lincoln, Nebraska. B&G also represents a majority of the Twin Cities suburban cities and cable commissions. B&G assists local governments in enforcing their property rights and franchising authority before state and federal courts, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), and state BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 3 II PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleydv Guzzetta> LLC 12/1712004 public utility commissions. B&G recently had a major victory at the FCC in favor of local governments that "made clear that the open video system certification process does not usurp the authority of local governments to control use of the public rights-of-way." B&G has also recently litigated successfully Section 253 telecommunications franchising authority, and cable modem service issues. B&G also assists local governments in drafting rights'-of-way, telecommunications, cable and open video system franchises/ordinances and zoning and siting ordinances concerning cellular, PCS and 3G facilities. Experiences in cable television law include franchise renewal, franchise transfers, competitive franchising, rate regulation, customer service disputes, franchise noncompliance litigation, public, educational, and governmental access policies, defamation and Constitutional issues. B&G also assists local governments in the review and advocacy of legislation, including legislative testimony. B&G has assisted in thwarting many attempts to limit or eliminate local franchising authority over the years. Proposed Legal Services 1. General Franchising legal issues. 2. General PEG legal issues. 3. PEG Policy Review. 4. Bylaws and Joint Powers Review for cable issues. 5. Report to City Council as needed. 6. Correspondence and phone conferences with staff, Commissioners or Council members concerning general franchising issues. 7. Prepare legal memoranda to Telecommunications Commission, City Council and staff as necessary (except for memoranda related to uncovered legal services listed below). 8. Noncompliance issues up through drafting notice of violation to franchisee. 9. General Resolution Drafting for cable issues. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 4 II PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd- Guzzetta, LLC 12/17/2004 10. Assist Shakopee and its Joint Power Agreement affiliates, Shakopee School District and Scott County, with review of basic Interconnection and Institutional Network issues and agreements. This proposal for legal services does not include: transfer reviews, franchise renewal, purchasing/bidding issues, competitive franchise applications, legal research, ordinance drafting, rate reviews, communications and PROW ordinance review, noncompliance issues following notice to franchisee, legislation drafting, lobbying, wireless ordinance review, contract drafting, any adversary, administrative, legal hearings (local, MNPUC, FCC, District or Appellate Court, etc.), real estate, construction, or bonding. Most ofthe services not included are services that we are typically able to split with other cities and cable commissions in the Twin Cities area, saving the City thousands of additional dollars. Additionally, some fees are directly reimbursed to the City, such as in transfer proceedings. Typically the items not covered occur infrequently. Administrative and Legal Fees In consideration of the services to be performed as outlined above, B&G proposes that the City pay B&G for administrative and legal services on a flat fee basis of $3,270 per month for the above administrative and legal services, to be solely paid out of the cable franchise fees paid by Time Warner. The contract would be for four (4) months from date of execution, with the ability to automatically extend month-to-month if so agreeable by both parties. Additional services beyond the terms and conditions of the contract will be billed at the 2005 professional hourly rates by either the consultant and/or attorney. Since B&G is located near Time Warner, there will be no charge for mileage or parking for meetings at Time Warner, unless Time Warner moves from its current Plymouth Avenue Minneapolis location. B&G staff will coordinate schedules to minimize any mileage charges. Disbursements (Federal Express, courier services, subcontractors, postage, supplies, long distance telephone) will be charged at an. actual cost basis. Disbursements (Federal Express, courier services, subcontractors, postage, supplies, long distance telephone) will be charged at an actual cost basis. B&G staff will coordinate schedules to minimize any mileage charges, but mileage will be billed at the rate paid to Shakopee's employees. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 5 III PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd~ Guzzet:t:a~ LLC 12/17/2004 2005 Fees and Hourly Billing Rates for Uncovered Administrative Telecommunication Services Ifthe City chooses to utilize the Senior Project Manager on an hourly basis, the following rate will apply for all 2005 hourly work not covered by this proposal for the above administrative servIces: Professional Standard Hourly Shakopee Rate Cost Savings Senior Project Manager $145.00 $135.00 $10.00 Invoices for work will be submitted to the City monthly and would be due and payable 30 days after submission. Balances owed for more than 60 days after invoice date will accrue compound interest at 1.5% per month (18.0% per year) from the 30th day after the invoice date. 2005 Fees and Hourly Billing Rates for Uncovered Legal & Administrative Services The reduced municipal rate is for all 2005 hourly legal and administrative work not covered by this proposal and all legal and administrative work related to Time Warner (or the current franchise holder is) and such work involves a shared issue with other Time Warner franchising authorities in the metropolitan area and the City must pay the fee out of its franchise fees or from other City funds (thereby triggering B&G reduced municipal rate). B&G currently represents other Time Warner franchising authorities. These franchising authorities see a significant cost savings when. B&G splits the hourly work between all of its clients. Assuming the franchising authorities and the City. authorize legal or administrative work, the following effective hourly rates would be split among clients of B&G: Professional Standard Hourly Partner $165.00 Senior Project Manager $145.00 Associate $140.00 Law Clerk $115.00 Paralegal $95.00 B&G is able to split the actual hours spent on a project among all of its participating clients in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, which also have Time Warner as its cable provider. Therefore when any issue affects all of the franchise holders (which it often does), and B&G must deal with Time Warner in relation to. all of its clients, B&G splits its regular hours among its Time Warner clients. When B&G hours are billed back to Time Warner, B&G reserves the right to charge its regular rates and not split the costs between the cities. No other law firm can offer this BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 6 III PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd.,v Guzzetta, LLC 12/17/2004 significant fee reduction, because they do not represent anywhere near the number of cable franchising authorities in the Twin Cities as B&G. Conclusion Thank you for asking our firm to submit this proposal. B&G would welcome the opportunity to discuss it further with the appropriate member City officials. B&G is in a unique position to save the City a considerable amount of money and at the same time enhance city services. Respectfully Submitted, Dated: December 15, 2004 Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC TracyJ. Schaefer, Senior Project Manager BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 7 III PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleye!r Guzzet:t:a~ LLC 12/1712004 Tracy J. Schaefer Tracy Schaefer is the Senior Project Manager for Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC. Ms. Schaefer assists public and private entities with telecommunications planning, contracting, fiscal administration and organizational development. Ms. Schaefer has a wealth of experience in municipal telecommunications. planning. Her experiences include the design, development and implementation of institutional networks (1- Nets), VoIP, cable/telecommunication commission planning and reorganization and cable franchising. Ms. Schaefer recently developed and coordinated a nationally recognized fiber 1- Net using VoIP technology that is owned and .used by the City of Shakopee, Minnesota, Scott County, and the local school district. The I-Net is projected to create a significant savings to the public, while providing state-of-the-art technologies to all ofthe public entities. Ms. Schaefer's fiber I-Net and VoIP system were featured III the NATDA Journal of Municipal Telecommunications Policy due to the I-Net's innovative nature and successful completion. Ms. Schaefer has significant experience in Public Administration.. She has worked closelywith cities on determining the viability of projects, performing cost-benefit analyses and cable needs assessments, and making successful recommendations before decision-making bodies. Working with decision-making bodies and staff, she has developed joint powers agreements, RFPs, capital improvement plans (CIPs), short-term and long-term budgets, refuse/recycling contracts, police service contracts, labor union contracts, building project management, municipal service contracts and purchasing agreements. Ms. Schaefer's cutting-edge refuse and recycling contract has been featured in a number of pmfessional refuse and recycling journals as a model document for the country. Ms. Schaefer is also a leader in civic and professional associations. She serves with other urban management professionals in the International City Manager's Association (ICMA) and Minnesota City/County Management Association (MCMA). She also serves as an officer with the Association of Public Management Professionals (APMP) and was named Assistant of the Year twice by APMP. She is President of the Winona State University Alumni Board of Directors and is also a member of NATO A and MACTA. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Schaefer served the City of Shakopee as the Assistant to the City Administrator. Ms. Schaefer has also held positions with the cities of Winona, MN, Sugar Grove, IL (Chicago suburb) and Ottawa, IL, and she worked on the Minnesota tobacco litigation under then AttorneyGeneral Hubert "Skip" Humphrey III. Ms. Schaefer graduated with honors from Northern Illinois University with a Masters of Public Administration (MP A) degree in urban management with a strong focus on fiscal administration. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Public Administration from Winona State University. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 8 lilt PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd~ Guzzetta, LLC 12/17/2004 Michael R. Bradley Michael R. Bradley received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota and a juris doctor degree from Hamline University School of Law. Mr. Bradley has been successfully managing projects, both large and small for over ten years. He currently acts as the administrator for several cities in the regulation of cable companies and the production of public, educational and governmental access television. His services have . saved cities thousands of dollars, while maintaining excellent services. In the 1990's, he successfully managed the government affairs contract for a lobbying firm engaged by the City of Saint Paul to obtain funding for the building of the Xcel. Energy Center, which involved coordinating multiple lobbying firms, independent contractors and municipal employees. The effort resulted in the construction of the Xcel Energy Center and the return of the NHL to Minnesota. Mr. Bradley served honorably as a Judge Advocate with the Minnesota Army National Guard for eight years, where he attained the rank. of Major and the position of the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate. Prior to his discharge, Mr. Bradley successfully managed a staff of attorneys and paralegals to provide legal services to our soldiers and their families during the largest military deployment in the state of Minnesota since the Korean War. For many years, Mr. Bradley has served on the Insurance For Members Committee of the Minnesota State Bar Association ("MSBA"). He chaired the Insurance For Members Committee from 1999-2002, where he worked diligently and successfully with a third party insurance provider to bring additional services to MSBA members, while at the same time generating additional funding to the MSBA. Mr. Bradley is also the founder and Co-Chair of the Military Affairs Committee, which is the largest committee of the MSBA, and a member of the MSBA Communications Committee. As an attorney, Mr. Bradleyhas consistently been recognized as a "Rising Star" Attorney by Minnesota Law and Politics in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Mr. Bradley practices regulatory law, where he primarily represents governmental entities across the country on communications issues, particularly in cable television and telecommunications law. Mr. Bradley also has extensive government affairs experience. Most recently, he represented franchising authorities before the Minnesota State Legislature, working to develop statewide policy on telecommunications issues. He is also a member of the Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators ("MACT A"), where he serves on the Legislative Committee and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors ("NATOA"), where he serves on the legal and public policy committees. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 9 II PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd- Guzzet:t:a> LLC 12/1712004 Stephen J. Guzzetta Stephen J. Guzzetta graduated from Boston College in 1990, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He received his law degree from American University's Washington College of Law in 1993. Mr. Guzzetta currently provides . legal and administrative services to a number of cities, municipal cable commissions and non-profit corporations in the.areas of cable and telecommunications law. By way of example, Mr. Guzzetta. oversees franchise compliance activities and assists with the formulation and enforcement of internal video programming production policies. Mr. Guzzetta also has significant experience managing and administering large contracts and complex projects involving a variety of consultants. Mr. Guzzetta began his legal career as a regulatory attorney with the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia and the Office of Cable Television for the District of Columbia where his responsibilities included cable television franchise administration and enforcement, and the management of outside consultants. After working for. the District government for several years, Mr. Guzzetta moved to the private sector joining Miller & Van Eaton, P.L.L.C., a Washington, D.C. - based telecommunications law .firm representing municipalities throughout the country. While at Miller & Van Eaton, Mr.Guzzettaassisted numerous municipalities with franchise enforcement and administration issues, and developed regulatory/contract compliance programs for local governments. Mr. Guzzetta is an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Minnesota, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia. He has substantial experience practicing before administrative agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission and state utility commISSIOns. For example, Mr. Guzzetta has participated in numerous cable television rate proceedings, the Troy, Michigan preemption proceeding, the Chibardun/Rice Lake preemption proceeding, the Baltimore/United Artist franchise fee proceeding, the FCC's right-of-way management notice of inquiry, the FCC's cable modem ru1emaking and the FCC's emergency alert proceeding. Mr. Guzzetta is a member of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors ("NATOA"), where he serves on the Public Policy Committee, and a member of the Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators ("MACTA"), where he serves on the Legislative Committee. Mr. Guzzetta is a frequent speaker at NATOA and MACT A conferences. In addition to his service to NA TOA, Mr. Guzzetta served as a Commissioner on Shakopee's Telecommunications Commission and is currently a Shakopee resident, which has allowed him to be aware and knowledgeable on current and past Shakopee telecommunications issues. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 10 II PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Bradleyd-- Guzzetta, LLC 12/17/2004