Commission OKs Suddenlink amendment

Franchise fee on rural residents to be dropped

By PAMELA BRUST
PARKERSBURG — Wood County commissioners have approved an amendment to the county’s agreement with Suddenlink Cable Co., which will mean, beginning in mid-June, rural Suddenlink customers should see a lower bill.

In February 2007, Suddenlink officials attended a public hearing on the proposed renewal of the non-exclusive franchise with Suddenlink. The previous agreement was to expire Feb. 28. At that time, Michael Kelemen, government relations director with Suddenlink, said the franchise fee would be 5 percent of the gross receipts. The agreement, which county officials said was drawn up by Suddenlink, included that franchise fee.

Then in November, representatives of Suddenlink advised the company had made a mistake in the documents and an incorrect fee had been included. The commissioners referred the matter to special legal counsel, Blaine Myers, to be reviewed with counsel from Suddenlink.

“Suddenlink had raised the issue of whether or not it should be required to pay the franchise fee since their competitors are not paying a like fee. Suddenlink prepared the agreement, which included the 5 percent franchise fee, and paid that fee to the county for the first part of 2007. Initially, there was a disagreement over whether the contract should be amended. This amendment terminates the fee as of October 2007, and enables the county to retain the payments Suddenlink has previously made,” Myers told county officials on Thursday.

“Suddenlink operates a call center in Parkersburg. The commission was concerned, from information they received indirectly, that there might be changes to that. As part of this amendment, Suddenlink agrees to maintain that call center in Parkersburg through the term of the agreement with a minimum employment level of at least 165 employees. I know the commission felt that was important. If Suddenlink fails to do that, the 5 percent fee will be reinstated,” Myers said.

“This puts Suddenlink on equal footing with their competition. The fee can be collected from their customers, and they are in the process of billing customers to recoup what they have paid. Once they have recovered the fees paid out, that assessment on the bills will disappear and the bills will be reduced. They are within their rights to pass along the expense of that fee, they did nothing inappropriate in doing so,” Myers said.

“The collection of the franchise fee will cease with the June 13 billing cycle. Customers will see a reduction in their cable bills of up to 9.5 percent. We would certainly like to applaud the commission for their action today as it will make our customers happy,” Kelemen said.

“This change only affects our customers in the rural area of the county. We operate under separate franchise agreements with the municipalities. For example, the city of Parkersburg does not charge a franchise fee either. This change will not affect anyone who lives in Williamstown, Vienna or Parkersburg,” Kelemen said.

Commissioner Rick Modesitt said the delay in getting the agreement was mainly due to the commission trying to leverage an agreement to keep the call center in Wood County before they would agree to the amendment.

The county has stockpiled approximately $100,000 from the collected franchise fees.

“We have already given the volunteer fire departments $50,000, which was $5,000 each for the ten departments and we have discussed giving the remaining $50,000 to the fire departments. We hope to act on that Monday,” Modesitt said.