By Lori Carlson, Editor
Prior Lake City Council members on Monday rejected a request by Mediacom to reconsider approval of a cable TV franchise agreement with Integra Telecom, which became Mediacom’s first competitor in town after the council’s June 15 decision.

Since the council approved the franchise agreement with Integra, Mediacom has sent letters to the city seeking reconsideration, saying the agreement violates state law and constitutes a breach in the franchise agreement between Mediacom and the city.

During a special meeting Monday, council members quickly and unanimously voted to deny Mediacom’s request and uphold the council’s original decision.

To reconsider the matter, the council would have had to waive its bylaws on the time constraint regarding when a matter can be reconsidered. The bylaws state that the council can reconsider previous action at its next regular meeting, but Monday’s meeting was a special meeting, and the July 6 meeting has been cancelled.

“I’m not in favor of waiving our bylaws to reconsider our decision,” Mayor Jack Haugen said. “We felt that competition is in the best interest of customers.”

Through its attorneys, Mediacom had argued that state law prohibits the city from approving a franchise agreement with Integra because the locally owned company would not serve the entire area Mediacom serves, at least initially.

Integra’s attorneys countered that federal law prohibits the city from denying a franchise agreement for a new entrant into the market just because its proposed service area doesn’t include the entire area the existing franchisee serves.

Tom Bordwell, senior manager of government relations for Mediacom, said after the meeting that he had no comment on whether the company would try to pursue the matter further. But in a June 24 letter to city leaders, Mediacom’s lawyer, Jane Bremer, wrote that if the council denied reconsideration, the company would ask the city to grant a stay of the Integra franchise pending a review by the state Court of Appeals.

Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.