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HomeMy WebLinkAbout14.A. Telecommunications Recommendation on Transition Telecom Consulting Services ILf 4f CITY OF SHAKOPEE Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Telecommunications Recommendation- Transition Telecomm Consulting Services DATE: December 2,. 2004 INTRODUCTION: The Council is asked to consider a recommendation from the Telecommunications Advisory Commission regarding a proposal that had previously been made to the Council regarding support services for Telecommunications. This had been considered previously be the City Council at a workshop on October 26th. BACKGROUND: At the October 26th City Council workshop meeting, Council received a verbal presentation from me, regarding a proposal from Tracy Schaefer of Bradley and Guzzetta. As Council will recall, Ms. Schaefer had been employed by the City through September as Assistant to the City Administrator. She proposed, through her new firm, to administer the cable television franchise, cable production studio, institutional network, and also provide more routine assistance in franchise administration and other legal questions. With that information, the Council expressed a concern with hiring a former employee back at a higher rate to perform much the same work, and in addition, do that on a ongoing basis. The proposal was rejected. The Telecomm Commission subsequently asked that they have an opportunity to review the proposal in more detail. They did at the meeting of November 17th. At that time, they voted to recommend to the Council to approve the proposal at least for six months, and at that time review a more permanent solution. That solution may be/internal staff, continuation of the Bradley & Guzzetta arrangement, or an alternate not currently being pursued. They feel that at least an interim provision is necessary to continue to provide a high level of support for telecommunications. They did acknowledge that the a permanent staffing might not need to have the same level of technology expertise as was possessed by Ms. Schaefer. BUDGET IMPACT: Ms. Schaefer proposes to. do the legal and administrative activities outlined in the proposal dated October 26th, for $3,654 per month, or $21,924 for the six-month duration. Note that this would be coming entirely from the Telecommunications Fund, and it would not have an impact on the General Fund. RECOMMENDATION: The Telecommunications Advisory Commission recommends that the City Council accept the proposal dated October 26th, and retain the services of Bradley & Guzzetta for a transitional cable television/technology administration and legal support contract as outlined on the attached proposal. Further, that this arrangement be reviewed in 6 months' time. ACTION REQUIRED: If the Council concurs, it should, by motion, direct that the City enter into an agreement for administrative and legal telecommunication services for the City of Shakopee, to be provided by Bradley & Guzzetta, to be reviewed again in 6 months. '1fltJL~ Mark McNeill City Administrator MM:th Submitted to: City of Shakopee Mayor & City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator 129 South Holmes Street Shakopee, MN 55379 Respectfully Submitted by: Ms. Tracy J. Schaefer, Senior Project Manager Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC .950 Piper Jaffray Plaza 444 Cedar Street Saint Paul, MN 55101 P/651-379-0900 F/651-379-0999 October 26, 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&G has extensive experience in the telecommunications administration and B&G provides its own support staff. In B&G's capacity as administrator, B&G prepares 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 & GUZZETIA, LLC Page 1 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 Tracy ]. Schaefer, Senior Project Manager, (former Shako pee 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. Serve as liaison between Time Warner, Finance Department, and Public Works/Engineering to ensure timely payment of permit fees, franchise compliance, and customer service issues. 3. 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. 4. Dedicated e-mail address to allow cable subscribers to e-mail questions. and complaints. 5. Available by phone or e-mail during city business hours. 6. Coordinate City video programming needs with Telecommunications Commission, City Council, and City staff. 7. Coordinate public and government access needs with City staff contacts. 8. Dedicate staff that is committed to cable television and telecommunications matters. 9. Dedicate staff to address Institutional Network issues. Serve as city's contact person for Joint Powers Agreement, INET expansion and/or issues, monitor and manage contractors related to city's INET and review any related basic service INET contracts. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 2 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 10. 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.) 11. Prepare and recommend telecommunications annual budget in consultation with the primary staff contact. 12. Prepare and recommend annual Telecommunications Commission goals & objectives and ensure their successful implementation and completion. 13. Prepare all Commission/City Council briefings regarding telecommunications policies related to the City. 14. Prepare regular or as-needed written or in person briefings for City Council and primary staff contacts. 15. Prepare options and recommendations to the Commission (in consultation with the primary staff contact). 16.Attend monthly Telecommunications Commission meeting and City Council meetings, as needed. 17. Attend city/county department meetings as necessary with City staff. 18. Supervise and coordinate public and government access employees, including maintaining schedule, overseeing budget and purchasing approval and providing feedback by conducting, at a minimum, bi-weekly face-to-face meeting(s). 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]. 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. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 3 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 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 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. At minimum annual, PEG Policy Review. 4. Bylaws and Joint Powers Review. 5. Report to City Council as needed. 6. Assist Shakopee.and its Joint Power Agreement affiliates, Shakopee School District and Scott County, on basic Interconnection and Institutional Network issues and agreements. 7. Correspondence and phone conferences with staff, Commissioners or Council members concerning general franchising issues. 8. Prepare legal memoranda to Telecommunications Commission, City Council and staff as necessary (except for memoranda related to uncovered legal services listed below) . BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 4 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 9. Noncompliance issues up through drafting notice of violation to franchisee. 10. General Resolution Drafting. 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 of the 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 $3,654 per month for all of 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 an initial one year period, expiring December 31, 2005, with the ability to automatically renew for one more year with an agreed upon service or fee adjustments. A weekday only membership to the Shakopee Community Center would also be included for Tracy Schaefer. 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. Mileage will also not be charged to meetings at Shakopee City buildings or Scott County Workforce Center. B & G staff will coordinate schedules to minimize any mileage charges for any meetings that are not located at City Hall or Scott County Workforce Center. Disbursements (Federal Express. courier services. subcontractors. postage, supplies, long distance telephone) will be charged at an actual cost basis. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 5 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 Fees and Hourly Billing Rates for Uncovered Administrative Telecommunication Services Although B& G does not expect any additional work outside the scope of this proposal for the above projects, the following rate will apply for all hourly work not covered by this proposal for the above administrative services: Professional Standard Hourly Shakopee Rate Cost Savings Senior Project Manager $135.00 $110.00 $25.00 Invoices for work will be submitted to the City monthly and would bedue 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. Fees and Hourly Billing Rates for Uncovered Legal & Administrative Services The reduced municipal rate is for all hourly legal and administrative work not covered by this proposal and all legal and administrative work related to Time Warner (or whoever 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 ofB&G: Professional Standard Hourly Partner $150.00 Senior Project Manager $135.00 Associate $135.00 Law Clerk $100.00 Paralegal $75.00 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 significant fee reduction, because they do not represent anywhere near the number of cable franchising authorities in the Twin Cities as B&G. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 6 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 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: October 26, 2004 Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC Tracy]. Schaefer, Senior Project Manager 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 (I- Nets) , V oIP , cable/telecommunication commission planning and reorganization and cable BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 7 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 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 Shako pee, 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 of the public entities. Ms. Schaefer's fiber I-Net and VoIP system were featured in the NATDA Journal of Municipal Telecommunications PoJicydue to the I-Net's innovative nature and successful completion. Ms. Schaefer has. significant experience in Public Administration. She has worked closely with 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 professional 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 NA TOA and MACT A. 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, JL (Chicago suburb) and Ottawa, IL, and she worked on the Minnesota tobacco litigation under then Attorney General 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. 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. BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 8 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 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. Bradley has 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 ("MACTA"), 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. Stephen]. Guzzetta Stephen 1. 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 BRADLEY & GUZZETTA, LLC Page 9 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004 production policies. Mr. Guz~etta 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. Guzzetta assisted 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 ChibardunlRice Lake preemption proceeding, the BaltimorelUnited Artist franchise fee proceeding, the FCC's right-of-way management notice of inquiry, the FCC's cable modem rulemaking 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 PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 10/26/2004