Minutes 07/05/1984 - Laserfiche WebLink

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',J ... ,) , JULY 5, 1984 THURSDAY proposal under super services. If that is so, I think that under the contract doctrine of mutuality it could also be claimed that the City is also relieved of its obligations under the franchise agreement. Briefly stated, under the doctrine of mutuality, in order for a contract to be binding, it has to be mutually binding, and, if for any reason, one party is relieved of its obligations thereunder, then so is the other party. To put it another way, if Martinsville Cablevision is no longer required to carry the stations that it agreed to carry in order to get its franchise, then the City is at liberty to rescind that franchise. It would therefore be my recommendation that every attenpt be made to settle this matter equitably. Based on what I heard at the last meeting, an equitable settlement would be the return of WGN to the second tier of service, since the company has already agreed to retain, at least for the time being, C-SPAN and WTTG. If an equitable settlement cannot be reached, it would be my recommendation that we file in the Circuit Court of the City of Martinsville a petition for declaratory judgment in which we would not be seeking damages or anything else that might be considered detrimental to the cable company but in which we, rather, would be asking the Court to adjudicate the rights and duties of the parties to the franchise agreement. In other words, the Court would be requested to make a judicial determination as to whether or not the cable company is contractually obligated to carry the stations listed in its proposal under super service, and, if not, whether or not the City has the right, under the doctrine of mutuality, to rescind the cable company's fran- chise. If any of you have any questions about any of the foregoing, pie a s e call me. On behalf of Martinsville Cablevision (and Multi-Channel TV Cable Company of Mansfield), Mr. Pat Conley expressed regret that a controversy has developed over the proposed pro- gramming changes (some of which have been effected), noting that one of these changes has been mandated by the Federal Communications Commission whereas in recent times Mar- tinsville Cablevision has added channel stations of its own volition; and, as evidence of the company's good faith, it has not removed the "C-Span" channel--as initially con- templated--from its service to subscribers. And, in response to Councilman Groden's query (as to when Martinsville Cablevision will decide, in light of the adverse public