Carson Municipal Code Div. 2 State Franchises

6624. State Video Service Franchise Fees.

(a) Any holder of a State video service franchise (franchise holder), that offers video service within the City of Carson (the City), shall calculate and remit to the City a franchise fee of five (5) percent of its gross revenues. Such fee shall be remitted within forty-five (45) days after the end of the quarter for that calendar quarter. Each payment shall be accompanied by a summary explaining the basis for the calculation of the franchise fee. If the holder does not pay the franchise fee when due, the holder shall pay a late payment charge at a rate per year equal to the highest prime lending rate during the period of delinquency, plus one (1) percent. If the holder has overpaid the franchise fee, it may deduct the overpayment from its next quarterly payment.

(b) For the purposes of any State video service franchise, "gross revenues" shall be as defined in Section 5860 of the California Public Utilities Code (CPUC).

(c) For the purposes of this Division, "franchise holder" shall mean a "holder of a state franchise" as that term is defined at Section 5830 of the CPUC.

(Ord. 08-1398 § 4)

6625. State Video Service Fees for Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) Access.

(a) As required by Section 5870(n) of the California Public Utilities Code (CPUC), the City establishes a fee of one (1) percent of a franchise holder's gross revenues to support public, educational and governmental (PEG) channel facilities, to be paid by any franchise holder operating in the City.

(b) The fee shall be payable to the City quarterly no later than June 1st for the quarter ending March 31st, September 1st for the quarter ending June 30th, December 1st for the quarter ending September 30th and March 1st for the quarter ending December 31st.

(c) As permitted by Section 5870(o) of the CPUC, any franchise holder operating in the City may recover the PEG fees required herein as a separate line item on the regular bill of each subscriber.

(d) The City may reduce the fee upon not less than ninety (90) days' prior written notice from the City Manager to the franchise holder. If the fee has been reduced to less than one (1) percent of gross revenues, subsequent increases, to the maximum fee of one (1) percent of gross revenues, shall be upon not less than ninety (90) days' prior written notice from the City Manager to the franchise holder.

(e) Notices shall be transmitted by United States Postal Service certified or registered mail, return receipt requested and postage prepaid, or by private commercial delivery or courier service for same day or next business day delivery with delivery and receipt signature required.

(Ord. 08-1398 § 4)

6626. Customer Service Penalties.

(a) Any franchise holder shall, at minimum, comply with all applicable State and Federal customer service and protection standards pertaining to the provision of video service.

(b) The City will provide any franchise holder with written notice of any material breach of applicable customer service and protection standards, and will allow the franchise holder at least thirty (30) calendar days from the receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material breach. A material breach that is not remedied by the franchise holder within the remedy period shall subject the franchise holder to the following penalties to be imposed by the City:

(1) For the first occurrence of a material breach, a penalty of not more than $500.00 for each day of each material breach, not to exceed $1,500 for each occurrence of a material breach.

(2) For the second violation of the same nature within twelve (12) months, a penalty of $1,000 for each day of each material breach, not to exceed $3,000 for each occurrence of the material breach.

(3) For a third or further violation of the same nature within twelve (12) months, a penalty of $2,500 for each day of each material breach, not to exceed $7,500 for each occurrence of the material breach.

(c) Any notice and any penalty may be issued or imposed by the City Manager, or the City Manager's designee. Any notice shall be in writing. Notices shall be transmitted by United States Postal Service certified or registered mail, return receipt requested and postage prepaid, or by private commercial delivery or courier service for same day or next business day delivery with delivery and receipt signature required.

(d) The franchise holder may appeal any finding of material breach or imposition of penalties to the City Council. Any appeal must be made within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt, by the franchise holder, of the finding of material breach or the imposition of penalties, and must be submitted in writing to the City Clerk and the City Manager in order to be placed on a City Council agenda for consideration. Any appeal must contain a detailed explanation of why the applicant believes that the finding of material breach or the imposition of penalties was inconsistent with statutory requirements or authority.

(e) The City and any franchise holder may mutually agree to extend the time periods specified herein. Any such agreement shall be in writing and executed by the City Manager, or the City Manager's designee, and an authorized representative of the franchise holder.

(f) Any penalty imposed on the franchise holder, pursuant to this section, shall be paid to the City. As provided for in Section 5900(g) of the CPUC, the City shall submit one-half (1/2) of all penalties received from a franchise holder to the Digital Divide Account established in Section 280.5 of the CPUC.

(Ord. 08-1398 § 4)

6627. Encroachment Permits.

(a) For the purposes of this Division, an "encroachment permit" means any permit issued by the City relating to installation, construction or operation of facilities relating to the provision of video service under a franchise.

(b) Prior to installing, constructing, or maintaining a network, or any part thereof, within any portion of any City right-of-way, a franchise holder shall obtain an encroachment permit from the City.

(c) As required by Section 5885 of the CPUC, the City shall either approve or deny an application from a franchise holder for an encroachment permit within sixty (60) days of receiving a completed application.

(d) An application for an encroachment permit is considered complete when the applicant has complied with all statutory requirements, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of the Public Resources Code.

(e) Any City denial of an application for an encroachment permit shall be in writing and shall contain a detailed explanation of the reason for the denial.

(f) An applicant whose application for an encroachment permit has been denied may appeal the denial to the City Council. Any appeal must be made within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt by the franchise holder of the denial, and must be submitted in writing to the City Clerk and the City Manager in order to be placed on the City Council agenda for consideration. Any appeal must contain a detailed explanation of why the applicant believes that the denial was inconsistent with statutory requirements or authority.

(Ord. 08-1398 § 4)

6628. Undergrounding.

(a) In those areas and portions of the City where the transmission or distribution facilities of both the public utility provided telephone service and those of the utility providing electric service are underground or hereafter may be placed underground, then the franchise holder shall likewise construct, operate and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground. For the purposes of this subsection, "underground" shall include a partial underground system, e.g., streamlining. Consistent with State law, amplifiers in the franchise holder's transmission and distribution lines may be in appropriate housings upon the surface of the ground as approved by the City.

(b) When the franchise holder's conduits and other facilities are not being installed underground, the franchise holder shall utilize existing poles, conduits or other facilities (collectively, "system") to the extent feasible, as reasonably determined by the City, and shall remove all portions of the above-ground system which will no longer be utilized. In addition, all facilities which are installed above ground shall utilize anti-graffiti surfaces. Should a franchise holder's facilities, nevertheless, be painted with graffiti, the franchise holder shall have five (5) days from its receipt of notification of the graffiti by the City to remove the graffiti. Upon the failure, refusal or neglect of the franchise holder to remove the graffiti within said five (5) days, the City Manager may cause the graffiti to be removed and, upon so doing, shall submit to the franchise holder an itemized statement of the costs thereof. The franchise holder shall, within thirty (30) days after receipt of such statement, pay to the City the entire amount thereof.

(Ord. 08-1398 § 4)