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MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1997 <br />A special and duly-called meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, with Mayor George B. <br /> <br />Adams, Jr. presiding, was held Monday, December 8, 1997, in the Circuit Court Courtroom, City Hall, <br />beginning at 5:00 P.M. The purpose of the meeting was a Special Joint Meeting with the Henry County Board <br />of Supervisors, for review of the status of negotiations of cable television franchise agreements. All members <br />of Council were present: George B. Adams, Jr., Mayor; Dr. Mark A. Crabtree, Vice-Mayor; Bruce H. T. <br />Dallas; Elizabeth H. Haskell; and M. Gene Teague. All members of the Henry County Board of Supervisors <br />were present as well: Chairman Jack E. Dalton; R. E. Seidle; Paula M. Burnette; Debra Buchanan; H. G. <br />Vaughn; and Samuel J. Pilson <br /> <br />Following the call to order by both Mayor Adams and Chairman Dalton, both Board and Council heard a <br />presentation by County Administrator Sid Clower, Councilmember Gene Teague, Deputy County <br />Administrator Benny Summerlin, and Assistant City Manager Dewey Cashwell. The presentation consisted of <br />a review of Local Government Regulatory Authority relative to cable television providers, a history of the <br />Franchise Renewal Process that had been carded out by representatives of both jurisdictions, a review of <br />Negotiation Priorities that had been pursued, and a review of the Key Elements of the Franchise and <br />Ordinance as they had been draf[ed. Those present in the audience included representatives from Adelphia <br />Cable, including Mr. Terry Nosse, local system Manager, and Mr. Joe Price, Regional Manager. County <br />Administrator Sid Clower began the presentation by stating that he had gotten a lot of public input on issues <br />such as quality of service, rates, programming and other issues, and went on to describe the basis of local <br />government's authority to regulate cable television, stating that protection and management of right-of-ways <br />was key to this authority. Mr. Clower also pointed out that the franchises in question were non-exclusive in <br />nature, that any cable provider could offer to provide such a service at any time, and that such providers were <br />welcome to do so. In fact, Mr. Clower stated that both the County and the City had recently solicited <br />proposals from the market and had received none. Mr. Clower went on to state that the only element of cable <br />television services that the County or City could regulate, other than the approval of franchises, was <br /> <br /> <br />