KIMBALL, Tenn. - After city leaders voted to file a formal complaint with the state in January over a local cable company's failure to pay required franchise fees, they discovered that company doesn't have a state franchise agreement after all.
At the April meeting of the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Mayor Rex Pesnell said Blue Bridge Media in nearby South Pittsburg, Tenn., which offers cable, phone and internet service in Marion County, has franchise agreements only at the local level.
Mayor Rex PesnellPesnell recommended terminating that franchise agreement, which allows right-of-way access for the company's equipment on city-owned property.
The board voted unanimously to do so.
Once the company is given notice of the board's decision, City Attorney Billy Gouger said Blue Bridge Media would have 60 days to "cure" its default.
"The only way they can cure it is to pay to the town all the money that they have collected over the last several years that they have not remitted to the town," he said.
If the company pays the money, it would be entitled to reinstate the franchise agreement.
"They've made promises of payment multiple times," Gouger told the board. "They've made one small payment a couple of years ago and really nothing but promises since then. The difficult part about this whole situation is [Blue Bridge Media] is continuing to collect this fee from your residents. It'd be different if they weren't collecting, but it's on their bill. They have not denied that. They've just failed or refused to remit those funds over to the town."
Attempts to contact the New York-based attorney for the investment group that owns Blue Bridge Media were unsuccessful.
Officials are working to prepare an estimate of what the company owes Kimball.
"We don't have accurate information on the number of customers they have in the municipal limits of Kimball and so forth," Gouger said. "We have a pretty good idea of the amount that's owed over the last several years, but as far as dollar for dollar, we don't."
City officials determined in January 2016 that Blue Bridge Media owed about $8,000 in overdue franchise fees going back to 2013.
"They're charging the residents for this, but then they're not turning around and doing what they're supposed to do with it," Pesnell said. "They're just keeping the money."
Mark Payne, of Marion County, Tenn.Alderman Mark Payne agreed and said it "gripes" him that it's been happening for years.
"Maybe we force something here," he said.
The town does have a right to audit Blue Bridge Media's finances, but that would cost Kimball more money.
"I don't recommend that at this point either," Gouger said. "Until there's some money that's turned over, then [the town] is just continuing to spend more money to chase after money that you may never get."
The decision to terminate means basically that Blue Bridge won't be able to do business in the town anymore, Gouger said, but forcing it to stop would probably require Kimball to take legal action, which he doesn't recommend "at this time."
He said the problem the town has is that most, if not all, of Blue Bridge Media's lines and infrastructure are located on power poles or rights-of-way that belong to the Sequatchee Valley Electric Cooperative.
Gouger said he's not aware of any equipment that is located on a right-of-way that only belongs to Kimball.
After the 60-day response window, Gouger said, the company would not be able to legally continue charging its customers the fee.
The termination or triggering of the forfeiture clause does not mean necessarily that Kimball residents would lose their service through Blue Bridge Media either.
"As long as your residents are paying their bill, [the company] is not going to cut their service off," Gouger said. "[The company] is not going to care, necessarily, about the franchise agreement with the town. They haven't honored it anyway. I don't know why they would start caring about it now."
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.