Key West city commissioners on Thursday passed the first reading of a template franchise agreement but stopped short of approving a specific agreement with Boston-based City View Trolleys.</p><p>City View is headed locally by Vice President Greg Wythe, also a 15 percent owner of the company. He has been working with city officials since May to set up a sightseeing operation in the Southernmost City.</p><p>Currently the only operator is Historic Tours of America, which runs the Old Town Trolley and Conch Tour Train. Its deal with the city dictates it fork over 5 percent of gross receipts or $210,000 annually, whichever is greater, for their use of and impact on city streets.</p><p>Earlier this year, the city settled a lawsuit for $8 million after the courts ruled the city fostered an illegal monopoly for HTA and put Duck Tours Seafari out of business in the mid-1990s.</p><p>One tenet of the adopted template ordinance sets up a 150-foot radius designed to separate operators in the interest of safety. City View, represented by Ducks attorney Mick Barnes, takes issue with that and City Attorney Shawn Smith recommended against it.</p><p>"It's not only unnecessary, it's not allowed," Wythe said, displaying for commissioners an enlarged image of the $8 million city-issued settlement check, alluding to a court decision on the topic.</p><p>Another aspect approved by commissioners requires new franchisees to pay the city 5 percent of gross receipts, like HTA, or $10,000 per vehicle, whichever is greater.</p><p>That's where the snag came in for Wythe, who couldn't specifically answer commissioners asking exactly how many trolleys he plans to operate.</p><p>Commissioner Mark Rossi, asking Wythe if he was even authorized to negotiate on behalf of the company, said, "Man, you're coming with excuses."</p><p>Commissioner Barry Gibson asked that the first reading on City View's deal be pushed to a regularly scheduled commission meeting on Nov. 17 to "give the applicant a chance to be a little more prepared."</p><p>At that, Barnes rhetorically asked the room, "Are we done here?"</p><p>The $10,000 per vehicle minimum has to be voted on again before it can be adopted as general franchising criteria. Wythe suggested a per-seat minimum charge, while HTA contends that all franchise agreements should be identical.</p><p>"Please pass that franchise agreement on identical terms as the train franchise and trolley franchise," HTA attorney Ed Scales said. "I don't know how you get more fair than that. I don't know how you get more equal than that. Offer City View or any other applicant identical franchises. Not better, not worse, but identical."</p><p>HTA owner Ed Swift called the $10,000 "arbitrary" and said any payment should be attached to a percentage, "then I don't have to sue."</p><p>Commissioners are set to take up the template franchise agreement and the City View franchise again at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 in Old City Hall on Greene Street.