LATE DISTRIBUTION
FOR COUNCIL MAY 13, 1997
A5
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: May 7, 1997
Dept. File No. H411-1
CC File: 3253-2/2201
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: FCM Grant Request for FCM Municipal Rights-of-Way Defense Fund
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve the request of the FCM for a grant of $14,155
to contribute to a Municipal Rights-of-Way Fund from Contingency
Reserve. (Requires 8 votes for approval)
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
All grant requests must be approved by Council with a minimum of 8
votes. The action plan proposed by FCM is consistent with the
Telecommunications Policy adopted by Council in July of 1996.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to recommend that Vancouver participate in
the Federation of Canadian Municipalities action plan on
Telecommunications: Access to Municipal Rights-of-Way and to seek
approval of a grant request from FCM to fund that action plan.
BACKGROUND
In 1993 the newly passed federal Telecommunications Act significantly
changed the face of the telecommunications industry. Competition and
deregulation has resulted in an increase in demand for access to
municipal rights of way. Some municipalities, like Vancouver, antici-
pated the effect of this change and have already adopted appropriate
policies and are acting on those policies.
Vancouver has been an active participant in the work of an FCM
Sub-committee on Telecommunications since its inception in 1993. The
work of this committee includes the development of suggested telecom-
munications policies for member municipalities to adopt as well as a
Model Access Agreement. The principals in the model agreement have been
used as a basis for all Vancouver telecommunications agreements since
its development, including those with Starcom and Metro Vancouver Fiber
Services. Other agreements are currently in negotiation.
The model agreement sets out the following five principals that address
the concerns of municipalities:
1. The ability to control the number and type of above ground and
underground telecommunications infrastructure;
2. Telecommunications companies will not impose additional
financial burden on tax payers as a result of their use of the
rights-of-way;
3. Municipal governments must not be responsible for the costs of
relocating telecommunications infrastructure if required for
municipal purposes;
4. Municipal governments must not be liable for any loss result-
ing from damages arising from the actions of the munici-
pal government; and
5. Municipal governments must receive revenues over and above
direct expenditures to ensure full and adequate compen-
sation from companies that use municipal property for profit.
However, some Canadian municipalities have found that in dealing with
these national and sometimes international telecommunications companies,
there is much pressure to back down from these positions and a regional
and even national municipal strategy has become imperative. Moreover,
the CRTC has, up to now, chosen not to address the issues of compensa-
tion for the use of municipal rights of way. We expect that there are
now enough conflicts between the industry and Canadian municipalities
that it is only a matter of time before these issues must be resolved
either in front of the CRTC or in the Courts.
ACTION PLAN
FCM has drafted an action plan to deal with these issues and its
essential steps are as follows:
1. Awareness and solidarity amongst member municipalities;
2. Fund raising to support the action plan;
3. Research on legal position and valuation principals;
4. Negotiations with Stentor, the CCTA and the Federal Govern-
ment; and
5. Possible Hearings of the CRTC
Stentor and the CCTA are organizations that represent the telephone
companies and the cable companies respectively.
GRANT REQUEST
FCM member municipalities are being asked to contribute on the basis of
$0.03 per capita to a municipal rights-of-way defense fund that will be
dedicated to the issue of telecommunications and access to municipal
rights-of-way. It will be used for research, legal and other costs
regarding interventions before the CRTC. To date, Metropolitan Toronto,
and the cities of London and Edmonton have committed funding. The
cities participating in the Big Cities Mayors Caucus on Friday May 9,
1997 will be asked to commit funding before a general membership request
goes out to all FCM members.
CONCLUSION
Vancouver staff is supportive of the FCM action plan and believe that
working together through the FCM is the most effective and economical
means to protect our fundamental rights respecting control of our
rights-of-way and to recover the substantial costs imposed on us by
telecommunications companies using those rights- of-way.
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