During a special meeting held on May 27, the Pleasant Prairie Village Board reviewed a copy of Time Warner Cable's Application for a Franchise Agreement with the State of Wisconsin. After considering available information, the Board authorized the Village Administrator to respond to Time Warner Cable. The response, which was required within a 10-day window, will ensure Village residents continued access to three local PEG (public, educational, and government) channels via Time Warner Cable's service and will confirm the Village's interest in receiving a 5% Video Service Provider fee from the company.
Under Time Warner Cable's original agreement, the company offered three PEG channels to customers in Pleasant Prairie: Channel 25 with programming created by Pleasant Prairie local government, Channel 20 offering educational programming through Kenosha Unified School District, and Channel 14, programmed with public information through Kenosha County Media. With the confirmation letter, these services will be continued under the new agreement. Also under Time Warner Cable's original agreement, the company had not been paying a Franchise Fee to the Village. Under the new agreement, as confirmed by the response, Time Warner Cable will now pay Pleasant Prairie a 5% Video Service Provider Fee. The fee is calculated as a percentage of Time Warner Cable's total gross receipts, including revenue from: local subscriptions, advertisers, rental of video service equipment, home shopping and like programming, and more.
The fee collected from Time Warner Cable will be used to cover expenses related to engineering review and inspection for proper placement of Time Warner infrastructure (cable, boxes, etc.) within the Village right-of-ways. Funds will also be used to repair damage caused by installation in the right-of-way, when necessary. If funds remain after all other costs are covered, the balance can be used to offset programming for Channel 25. "The Video Service Provider Fee functions like a rental fee for the company's use of Village right-of-way," commented Mike Pollocoff, Pleasant Prairie Administrator. "The monies received from Time Warner Cable will help cover costs associated with their use of public space, rather than having property taxpayers cover the costs." Time Warner Cable has applied for a new State Franchise in response to recent business developments that will separate Timer Warner Cable from its parent company Time Warner.