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coordinate the use of this resource among <br />competing uses and to manage the use of <br />PROWs for delivery of essential municipal <br />utility services. Local management <br />responsibilities vary and are site specific, <br />underscoring the necessity for maintaining <br />local authority. <br />Minnesota's Telecommunications Right -of - <br />Way User Law was amended during the <br />2017 Session with legislation creating a <br />separate permitting system for placement of <br />small wireless facilities on city -owned <br />structures in the public right-of-way. The <br />new law clarified that wireless providers are <br />telecommunications right-of-way users and <br />maintained cities' right-of-way management <br />authority, but limitations were imposed on <br />cities' compensation through rent and <br />timelines for processing small wireless <br />facilities permits. <br />Response: Minn. Stat. §§ 237.162-.163 <br />worked well for many years, but <br />Minnesota was a part of a nationwide <br />effort by wireless providers to pass laws <br />providing them with easier access to <br />public rights -of -way and city -owned <br />infrastructure. While Minnesota's law <br />maintains more local control than those <br />passed in many other states, the League of <br />Minnesota Cities opposes efforts to <br />further restrict local government <br />authority over the public right-of-way. <br />Furthermore, the Federal <br />Communications Commission is <br />undergoing review of <br />Telecommunications Act rules and <br />policies related to local government <br />regulatory authority. State and federal <br />policymakers and regulators should: <br />a) Uphold local authority to manage and <br />protect public rights -of -way, including <br />reasonable zoning and subdivision <br />regulation and the exercise of local <br />police powers; <br />b) Recognize that cities have a <br />paramount role in developing, <br />locating, siting, and enforcing utility <br />construction and safety standards; <br />c) Support local authority to require <br />reimbursement and compensation <br />from service providers for managing <br />use of public rights -of -way; <br />d) Maintain city authority to franchise <br />gas, electric, cable, <br />telecommunications and broadband <br />services, open video systems and all <br />other wireline programming <br />platforms and services and to collect <br />franchise fees and alternative revenue <br />streams to support maintenance and <br />management of the traveled portion of <br />the PROW and other public services <br />of importance to communities; <br />e) Encourage a collaborative process <br />with stakeholders, including cities, to <br />determine any revised standards if <br />needed; <br />f} Recognize that as rights -of -way <br />become more crowded, the costs of <br />disrupting critical infrastructure <br />become evident and the exercise of <br />local authority to manage competing <br />demands and ensure public safety in <br />the PROWs becomes increasingly <br />important; <br />Ensure the removal of abandoned <br />equipment and accompanying support <br />structures by the service providers <br />from the public right-of-way; <br />h) Maintain the courts as the primary <br />forum for resolving disputes over the <br />exercise of such authority; and <br />1) Maintain existing local authority to <br />review and approve or deny plans for <br />installation or relocation of additional <br />wires or cables on in -place utility <br />poles. In the alternative, cities should <br />have broader authority to require the <br />underground placement of new and/or <br />existing services at the cost of the <br />g) <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2018 City Policies Page 64 <br />