Comcast wants to close its Manteca office in the 100 block of North Grant Street.

And in order to modify their franchise agreement with the City of Manteca to do so, Comcast may provide city hall with high-speed data service at no cost as well as between the Civic Center and the Union Road fire station and the wastewater treatment plant.

The non-exclusive franchise agreement Continental Cablevision that is now Comcast was renewed in 1994 for 20 years until June 19, 2015.

The agreement requires Comcast to maintain a customer service and bill payment location in Manteca that is open during normal business hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays. It also required that office to be open two hours weekly outside of normal business hours. It further stated the office had to be adequately staffed to accept subscriber payments and respond to service requests and complaints.

That was years before e-mail and smartphone/tablet payments joined electronic transfers via telephone to constitute the lion’s share of how customers pay their bills. It was also before Comcast entered into agreements with numerous retailers such as Best Buy for customers to obtain and return cable equipment.

Comcast met with city staff to discuss what type of improvements the city might need that could be added to the franchisee agreement in exchange for closure of the office.

A sign at Comcast’s office indicated the location is closing in December.