While the negotiations between the city of Cape Coral and LCEC for a new franchise agreement are described as “progressing,” very few, if any, negotiating points have been settled as yet.

“Nothing is new at this point,” said LCEC spokesperson Karen Ryan. “Nothing has gone south, so that’s good. Things are going better than they had been. We are hoping for another extension, but we would like a more lengthy deadline. It’s difficult to have a deadline a couple of weeks at a time.”

The deadline Ryan referred to comes up next week, Aug. 31. It’s the second deadline extension asked for and granted to city negotiator Stuart Diamond for the city to hold its complaint filed with the Public Service Commission in abeyance so that negotiations can take place.

City Manager John Szerlag said at Monday night’s City Council meeting that, “I hope to get something concrete by the end of August. If not, I will be reporting to council on our next steps.”

“We would not be surprised if there is another extension,” said city spokesperson Connie Barron. “It’s up to the city manager then to evaluate and make a decision.”

The city’s current 30-year franchise agreement with LCEC is set to expire at the end of September. LCEC sent the city a draft document of a new agreement in March 2015 and, when the city returned its own agreement proposal earlier this year, the two sides were far apart. LCEC suspended negotiations when the city filed its complaint with the PSC on March 15. The city asked the PSC to hold its filing in abeyance so negotiations could resume in hopes of reaching a new franchise agreement.

“We’d love to reach an agreement by October, but if the contract expires it just stays in place,” said Ryan. “It’s not impossible to reach an agreement by then.”

“During the first extension (July 31) we met with LCEC on the purchase of the street light program and we will meet again on Aug. 29 to discuss the equity retention and policy,” said Assistant City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn. “None of the points of contention have been agreed upon yet, but we are discussing topics.”

Ryan said, “Dennie Hamilton (LCEC CEO) is very optimistic because he sees progress being made. He has a similar negotiating philosophy as Diamond, so he remains optimistic.”