Culver City Municipal Code Ch. 11.21 Cable Systems

Section

General

Provisions

Consumer Protection

Cable Franchise Renewals

Statewide Video Franchisees

Miscellaneous

Cross-reference:

GENERAL

A. The City Council finds and determines as follows:

1. The development of cable systems may provide significant benefits for, and have substantial impacts upon, the residents and businesses of the City.

2. The public streets, alleys, utility easements dedicated for compatible uses, and other rights-of-way within the City used by cable systems:

a. Are critical to travel and commerce;

b. Are a unique and physically limited resource so that proper management by the City is necessary to maximize the efficiency and to minimize the costs to the taxpayers, and to prevent harm to the community; and

c. Are intended for public uses and must be managed and controlled consistent with that intent.

3. Cable systems permanently occupy and extensively make use of scarce and valuable public rights-of-way, in a manner different from the way in which the general public uses them.

4. Because of the complex and rapidly changing technology associated with cable systems, the public convenience, safety and general welfare is best served by the City's exercise of its regulatory powers to establish procedures through which cable systems may use and occupy public rights-of-way, and to establish general conditions to govern the construction, operation and installation of such systems.

5. This Chapter is intended to establish provisions for the franchising arid regulation of cable systems. This Chapter is further intended to ensure that all regulations are consistent with the federal Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (47 USC 521 et seq.), as amended by the federal Cable Television Consumer and Competition Act of 1992 and the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, applicable regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, and applicable California statutes and regulations.

B. The purpose and intent of this Chapter is to provide for the attainment of the following objectives:

1. To enable the City to discharge its public trust in a manner consistent with rapidly evolving federal and state regulatory policies, industry competition, and technology development.

2. To obtain fair and reasonable compensation for the use and occupancy of valuable public assets by cable systems to provide cable service.

3. To foster and to promote competition in cable services, and encourage the delivery of advanced and competitive cable services on the broadest possible basis to businesses, residents, institutions and local government of the City.

4. To establish clear local guidelines, standards, and time frames for the exercise of local authority with respect to the regulation of cable systems, including the establishment and enforcement of customer service standards.

5. To provide opportunities to the public to obtain access to communications facilities for the purpose of disseminating and receiving information; to promote competitive cable rates and services; to take advantage of opportunities presented by cable and open video systems to provide for more open government; to enhance educational opportunities throughout the community and provide opportunities for building a stronger community; and to allow flexibility to respond to changes in technology, subscriber interests, and competitive factors that will affect the health, welfare, and well-being of the community.

6. To encourage the deployment of advanced cable communications systems that satisfy local cable-related needs and interests, and which enable the schools and the government to take advantage of cable technology to deliver enhanced services.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

ACCESS, PEG ACCESS or PEG USE. The availability of a cable system for public, education or government use (including institutional network use) by various agencies, institutions, organizations, groups, and individuals, including the City and its designated access providers, to acquire, create, and distribute signals not under a grantee's editorial control.

APPLICANT. Any person who applies for a cable franchise.

BASIC CABLE SERVICE. The lowest service tier that includes the retransmission of local over-the-air television broadcast signals.

BROADCAST SIGNAL. A television or radio signal that is transmitted over-the-air to a wide geographic audience and is received by a cable communications system and retransmitted to its subscribers.

BUNDLED SERVICES. Two or more different services or service tiers, including cable services and non-cable services, into a single price structure.

CABLE. Open video systems (OVS) and cable systems.

CABLE ACT. Title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 1064, enacted June 19, 1934), as amended by the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (Public Law No. 98-549, enacted October 30, 1984), amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 (Public Law No. 102-385, enacted October 5, 1992), further amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law No. 104-104, enacted February 8, 1996), as may be amended from time to time.

CABLE SERVICE. The same meaning as in Title VI of Title 47 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time.

CABLE SYSTEM or CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM. A facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service that includes video programming and that is provided to multiple subscribers within a community. The term CABLE SYSTEM does not include:

1. A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;

2. A facility that serves subscribers without using any public rights-of-way;

3. A facility of a common carrier that is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, except that such facility will be considered a cable system (other than for purposes of Section 621(c) of the Cable Act) to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers, unless the extent of such use is solely to provide interactive on-demand services; or

4. Any facilities of an electrical utility that are used solely for operating its electrical utility system.

A reference to a CABLE SYSTEM refers to any part thereof, including, without limitation, enclosures (such as equipment cabinets), amplifiers, power guards, nodes, cables, fiber optics and other facilities and equipment appurtenant to the cable system.

CABLE SYSTEM OPERATOR. Any person who operates a cable system, as defined in this Section.

CFR. The Code of Federal Regulations. Thus, the citation of "47 CFR 80.1" refers to Title 47, Part 80, Section 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

CHANGE OF CONTROL. A change in actual working control, in whatever manner exercised, over the affairs of a grantee or its direct or indirect parents. Without limiting the foregoing, a change of control of a franchise, grantee, or cable communications system will be deemed to have occurred whenever there is a change, acquisition or transfer of control of more than a twenty-five percent (25%) ownership in the grantee or its direct or indirect parents to any person, or a group of persons acting in concert; or whenever there is any change in the general partners of a grantee, or a transfer of the grantee to any subsidiary, affiliate or other entity.

CHANNEL. Capacity on a cable communications system that can be used to transit programming.

CITY MANAGER. The CITY MANAGER for the City of Culver City appointed by the City Council, or his or her designee.

CITY. The City of Culver City as represented by its City Council or any person authorized to act on behalf of the City.

CITY TREASURER. The elected City Treasurer or his or her designee.

COMMUNITY ACCESS CHANNEL or PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNEL. Any channel or portion of a channel utilized for programming by the general public.

EDUCATION ACCESS or EDUCATION USE. Access where schools are the designated programmers or users having editorial control over their communications.

FCC or FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. The federal administrative agency, created by the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, codified at 47 USC 151 et seq., or any lawful successor.

FRANCHISE. An authorization granted by the City to the operator of a cable communications system giving the operator the non-exclusive right to occupy the space, or use facilities upon, across, beneath, or over public rights-of-way in the City, to provide specified services within a designated franchise area. A construction or street use permit is not a franchise.

FRANCHISE SERVICE AREA or SERVICE AREA. The entire geographic area of the City as it is now constituted, or may in the future be constituted, unless otherwise specified in the ordinance or resolution granting a franchise, or in a franchise agreement.

GOVERNMENT ACCESS or GOVERNMENT USE. Access where government institutions or their designees are the designated programmers or users having editorial control over their communications.

GRANTEE. Any person that is awarded a franchise in accordance with this Chapter, and that person's lawful and permitted successor, transferee, or assignee; or any person holding a cable franchise as of the effective date of this Chapter.

GROSS REVENUES. Any and all revenue, of any kind, nature or form, including but not limited to revenues from equipment sales and rentals, services, installation, late fees and other subscriber charges, fees for carriage of programming, advertising, programming guides, and shopping services; the term encompasses revenue sources existing as of the effective date of this ordinance or revenue sources that may develop in the future. It shall also include revenues collected by any affiliate of a grantee for services provided over the cable system.

OPEN ACCESS. Allowing nondiscriminatory access by Internet service providers to a cable system operator’s Internet delivery transport system.

OPERATOR. A person:

1. Who directly or through one (1) or more affiliates provides cable service over a cable communications system and who directly or through one (1) or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such system; or

2. Who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement, the management and operation of such a system.

PERSON. Unless it otherwise appears from the context as used, means and includes any person, individual, firm, partnership, sole proprietorship, corporation, company, trust, limited liability company, association, joint stock company, bank institution business or other trust, public agency, school district, educational facility, the state, its political subdivisions and/or instrumentalities, or any other legal entity, but not the City.

PROGRAMMING. Signals containing information intended for use by recipients, whether in the form of video signals, audio signals or data signals.

PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL OR GOVERNMENT ACCESS FACILITIES or PEG ACCESS. The total of the following:

1. Channel capacity designated for public, educational, or government use; and

2. Facilities and equipment for the use of that channel capacity.

PUBLIC PROPERTY. Any property owned or under the control of the City, other than a right-of-way.

RIGHTS-OF-WAY. The surface and space in, on, above, through and below any real property in which the City has an interest in law or equity, whether held in fee, or other estate or interest, or as a trustee for the public, including, but not limited to, any public street, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, lane, ally, court, sidewalk, curb, parkway, river, tunnel viaduct, bridge, park, public easement, dedicated easement, or any other place, area, or real property owned by or under the control of the City.

SCHOOL. Any public charter school, primary and secondary schools or college accredited by the state (which term includes all accredited post-secondary institutions, including by way of example and not limitation, community colleges, technical colleges and universities).

SUBSCRIBER or CUSTOMER or CONSUMER. The City or any person within the City who is lawfully receiving, for any purpose or reason, any cable service via a cable communications system, whether or not a fee is paid for such service.

USC. The United States Code.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

PROVISIONS

No person may construct or operate a cable communications system within the public rights-of-way of the City without a properly granted franchise awarded pursuant to this Chapter, which franchise must be in full force and effect.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. An application must be filed for an initial or renewal cable system franchise, or for approval of a transfer or change of control. All applications under these provisions of this Chapter, except as provided for in § 11.21.400, shall be in writing and shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk.

B. The City Manager shall specify the information that must be provided in connection with an application, and the form in which the information shall be provided.

C. At a minimum, but without limitation, each application must identify the applicant, show that the applicant is financially, technically and legally qualified to construct, maintain and operate the cable system, contain a pro forma showing capital expenditures and expected income and expenses for the first five (5) years the applicant is to hold the franchise, and show that the applicant is willing to comply unconditionally with this Chapter and its franchise obligations. A complete description of the applicant's corporate form must be provided. A complete chain of ownership to applicant's ownership must be provided, to the applicant's ultimate parents. In addition, any application for an initial or renewal franchise must describe in detail the cable system that the applicant proposes to build or maintain, show where it is or will be located, set out the system construction or rebuild schedule, and show that the applicant will provide adequate channels, facilities and other support for public, educational and government use (including institutional network use) of the cable system. To be accepted for filing, an original and six (6) copies of a complete application must be submitted. All applications shall include the names and addresses of persons authorized to act on behalf of the applicant with respect to the application.

D. The City may at any time demand, and applicant shall provide, such supplementary, additional or other information, as the City may deem reasonably necessary to determine whether the requested franchise should be granted. An applicant (and the transferor and transferee, in the case of a transfer) shall respond to any request for information from City, by the time specified by City.

E. All application materials become the property of the City upon receipt.

F. An application may be rejected if it is incomplete, or if the response to requests for information is not timely and complete.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. This Section establishes additional provisions that apply to an application for an initial franchise, or a renewal franchise.

B. Any person may apply for an initial or renewal franchise by submitting an application therefore on that person's own initiative, or in response to a request for proposals issued by City. If the City receives an unsolicited application, it may choose to issue a request for additional proposals, and require the applicant to amend its proposal to respond thereto. The City may conduct such investigations as are necessary to act on an application.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. Any application for either a new franchise grant, a franchise renewal, a franchise transfer or a franchise change of control shall include an application fee, based on amounts established by Council resolution, to cover the cost of all direct and indirect administrative expenses and staff efforts, including consultants and attorneys, necessary to adequately analyze the application. In addition, the grantee shall reimburse the City for all out-of-pocket processing costs, which shall include, but not be limited to, costs of publications of notices, development and publication of relevant franchise agreements and other agreements, travel expenses, and any other out-of-pocket expenses not covered by the application fees, incurred by the City in its study and evaluation of the application. The City may require a deposit to be paid by the applicant in an amount determined by the City Manager to cover estimated costs of the application.

B. No payment of said processing fees shall be offset against any franchise or other fees payable to the City during the term of the franchise.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 §22 (part))

A. The City may grant non-exclusive cable communications system franchises pursuant to this Chapter.

B. Before taking final action on an application, the City Council shall conduct public hearings before itself, or before other boards and commissions of the City, in accordance with applicable state, federal or local law. In determining whether to grant a franchise, City may consider:

1. The extent to which an applicant for renewal has substantially complied with the applicable law and the material terms of any existing cable franchise ordinance;

2. Whether an applicant for renewal's quality of service under its existing franchise; including signal quality; response to customer complaints, billing practices, and the like has been reasonable in light of the needs of the community;

3. Where the applicant has not previously held a cable system franchise in City, whether the applicant's record in other communities indicates that it can be relied upon to provide high quality service throughout any franchise term;

4. Whether the applicant has the financial, legal, and technical ability to provide the services, facilities, and equipment set forth in an application, and to satisfy any minimum requirements established by the City;

5. Whether the applicant's application is reasonable to meet the future cable-related needs and interests of the City, taking into account the cost of meeting such needs and interests;

6. Whether issuance of a franchise is warranted in the public interest considering the immediate and future effect on public rights-of-way, public property, and private property that will be used by the applicant's cable system;

7. Whether the applicant has proposed to provide adequate facilities, equipment, channels and other support for PEG use of the cable system;

8. Such other matters as the City is authorized or required to consider.

C. If the City determines that issuance of a franchise would be in the public interest considering the factors described in this Section, and the applicant is willing to enter into an appropriate franchise agreement, the City may award a franchise to the applicant.

D. The grant of a franchise shall not be effective unless the franchise is unconditionally accepted by a grantee, and grantee enters into a franchise agreement setting forth the terms and conditions under which the franchise may be exercised, and the franchise has been approved by City Council.

E. A franchise granted pursuant to this Chapter shall authorize and permit a grantee to construct, operate and repair a cable system, pursuant to the terms of its franchise agreement and this Chapter to provide cable service in the City, and for that purpose to erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, maintain facilities appurtenant to such system in, on, over, under, upon, across, and along those rights-of-way in the grantee's franchise area.

F. A franchise shall not convey rights other than as expressly specified in this Chapter or in the franchise; no rights shall pass by implication.

G. A franchise shall not include or be a substitute for:

1. Complying with requirements of general applicability for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the City;

2. Complying with requirements for the privilege of using or occupying the rights-of-way to construct, operate or repair facilities in connection with the provision of non-cable services;

3. Any permits or other authorizations required under the City code in connection with activities on or in rights-of-way or other property, including by way of example and not limitation, street cut permits;

4. Any permits or agreements for occupying any other property of the City or private entities to which access is not specifically granted by the franchise.

H. Neither the franchise nor the franchise agreement relieves a grantee of its duty to comply with all City ordinances, resolutions, written policies, and regulations, and every grantee must comply with the same. The grantee's exercise of the rights under the same is subject to the exercise of police and other powers the City now has or may later obtain, including but not limited to the power of eminent domain.

I. A franchise does not convey title, equitable or legal, in the public rights-of-way or public property. Any right granted to grantee shall not be subdivided or subleased to any other person, including but not limited to, an affiliate.

J. Every franchise shall be nonexclusive, and nothing in this Section or any franchise agreement shall be read to provide a cable operator or applicant the right to object to the grant of a franchise, or other authorization to provide cable services on the same or different terms.

K. Unless a franchise agreement or this Chapter specifically provides otherwise, any act that a cable communications system operator is required to perform shall be performed at the operator's expense, and with no charge to the City.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A franchise granted pursuant to this Chapter shall be for the term specified in the franchise agreement, commencing upon the effective date of the ordinance or resolution adopted by the Council that authorizes the franchise.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. A grantee may not sell, transfer, lease, assign, sublet, or dispose of, in whole or in part, by forced or involuntary sale, or by ordinary sale, contract, consolidation, or otherwise, the cable communications system, the franchise or any of the rights or privileges therein granted; nor may a change of control occur without the prior consent of the City Council by resolution and then only upon such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the City Council, which consent may not be unreasonably denied or delayed. Such transactions are referred to in this Chapter collectively, as "transfers." Transfer without the City's prior written approval will be considered to impair the City's assurance of due performance, and shall be considered a material breach of the franchise.

B. Prior consent is not required for grants of a security interest or mortgage of any assets of the grantee to secure the construction, operation or repair of the cable communications system. However, a mortgage or security interest is not permitted:

1. If it would prevent the grantee or any successor from complying with its franchise and applicable law;

2. If it permits a third party to succeed to the interest of grantee, or to own or control the system, without the City's prior consent; and

3. Unless it is subject and subordinate to the rights of the City under the cable franchise and applicable law.

C. Grantee must notify the City in writing of any foreclosure or judicial sale of all or a substantial part of the grantee's franchise property, or upon the termination of any lease or other interest covering all or a substantial part of that franchise property. That notification will be considered by the City as a notice that a change in control of ownership of the franchise has taken place, and the provisions of this Chapter that required the prior consent of the Council to that change in control of ownership will apply.

D. A sale of a portion of the cable communications system in the ordinary course of business where the portion sold is removed (such as the sale of old electronics) will not be deemed a transfer for the purposes of this subsection.

E. If specifically provided for in the franchise, a cable franchise agreement may except transfers to an affiliate or categories of affiliates of a cable system operator from the requirements of this Section where:

1. The transferor notifies the City of the transfer at least one hundred twenty (120) days before it occurs, describes the nature of the transfer, and submits complete information describing who will have direct and indirect ownership and control of the cable system after the transfer, and submits proof of financial capability;

2. The transferor submits an application for transfer deemed complete by the City, along with payment of all applicable fees;

3. The transferee warrants that it has read, accepts, and agrees to be bound by each and every term of the franchise, the franchise agreement and related amendments, regulations, ordinances, and resolutions then in effect;

4. The transferee agrees to assume all responsibility for all liabilities, acts, and omissions known and unknown of its predecessor grantees for all purposes, including renewal;

5. The transferee agrees that the transfer will not permit it to take any position or exercise any right that could not have been exercised by its predecessor grantees;

6. The transferee warrants that the transfer will not substantially increase the financial burdens upon or substantially diminish the financial resources available to the transferee (the warranty to be based on comparing the burdens upon and resources that will be available to the transferee compared to its predecessors), or otherwise adversely affect the ability of the transferee to perform;

7. Both the transferor and transferee warrant that the transfer shall not in any way adversely affect the City or subscribers (including by increasing rates);

8. The transferor shall notify the City that the transfer is complete within thirty (30) business days of the date the transfer is complete;

9. The transferee agrees that the transfer does not affect any evaluation of its legal, financial, or technical qualifications that may occur under the cable franchise or applicable law after the transfer, and does not directly or indirectly authorize any additional transfers; and

10. Said transfer is approved by the City Council through ordinance or resolution prior to the effective date of the transfer.

F. Any financial institution holding a pledge of the grantee's assets to secure the advance of money for the construction or operation of the franchise property has the right to notify the City that it, or a designee satisfactory to the City, will take control of and operate the cable television system upon grantee's default in its financial obligations. Further, that financial institution must also submit a plan for such operation within ninety (90) days after assuming control. The plan must insure continued service and compliance with all franchise requirements during the period that the financial institution will exercise control over the system. The financial institution may not exercise control over the system for a period exceeding eighteen (18) months unless specifically authorized by the City, in its sole discretion and during that period of time it will have the right to petition the City to transfer the franchise to another grantee.

G. Any change of control or other transfer of ownership by the grantee without prior written City approval shall constitute a material breach of the franchise.

H. Approval by the City of a transfer of a franchise does not constitute a waiver or release of any of the rights of the City, whether arising before or after the date of the transfer.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. Territory annexed to the City that is already covered by an existing franchise or license granted by another public entity but where the grantee of such franchise or license has not commenced installation of a cable system in the area of such annexed territory shall be deemed not to be served by a franchise or license, and all rights acquired under said franchise or license in the area of such annexed territory shall terminate by operation of law as of the effective date of the annexation.

B. Territory annexed to the City that is already served by a franchise or license issued by another public entity, may continue to be served by the grantee under said franchise or license for the balance of the term of said franchise or license, subject to the provisions of said franchise or license and the provisions of this Chapter, and provided the franchise fees adopted by the City are paid to the City.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of a franchise agreement authorized by the City Council and provisions of this Chapter as of the effective date of the franchise agreement, the provisions of this Chapter shall control except where a provision of the franchise agreement expressly states otherwise.

B. Each cable system grantee will offer all of its cable services to any person in its franchise area. A grantee may not require a person to subscribe to non-cable services as a condition of receiving any cable service.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. Regulation. The City shall regulate any operator's rates and charges, except to the extent it is prohibited from doing so by law. The City will regulate rates in accordance with FCC rules and regulations, where applicable. Except to the extent FCC rules provide otherwise, all rates and charges that are subject to regulation, and changes in those rates or charges most be approved by the City in advance. The City Manager may take any required steps to file complaints, toll rates, issue accounting orders or take any other steps required to comply with FCC regulations. The City Council shall be responsible for issuing orders that establish rates or order refunds. A grantee must comply with all rate orders issued by the City Council pending appeals by the grantee unless a stay order has been issued by the FCC.

B. Rate non-discrimination. A grantee may not unduly discriminate in rates, charges or service conditions among subscribers to cable services and subscribers to cable services and other services on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, disability, age, national origin, ancestry, marital status, medical condition, or sexual orientation.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part)))

A. Each cable system grantee shall pay the City a franchise fee in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of gross revenues (including franchise fees collected) derived by the grantee or its cable operator from the operation of the cable system to provide cable services, or such percentage amount as provided by law.

1. Each bill remitted to subscribers shall specifically indicate the amount of the franchise fee charged pursuant to this Section.

B. Except as a franchise may otherwise specifically provide, where a grantee sells cable services and non-cable services as bundled services, for purposes of franchise fee calculations the cable services will be presumed to generate the same revenues as would have been generated had the subscriber purchased cable services only.

C. Each person required by this Chapter to remit a City tax or other in lieu fee shall file a return with the City Treasurer on forms approved by the City Treasurer on or before the due date. The City Treasurer is authorized to require such further information as he or she deems necessary to properly determine if the tax here imposed is being levied and collected in accordance with this Subchapter.

D. To prevent evasion of franchise fees, City tax, or in lieu fees, revenues of affiliates derived from the operation of the cable system to provide cable service will be treated as the revenue of the operator; but nothing herein shall be read to permit the City to charge a fee on affiliate revenues where the revenues were also included in the calculation of the revenues of the grantee.

E. Persons who provide cable services or other communications services to subscribers for a fee via a cable system and whose revenues are not included in the franchise fees specified above may be charged a fee by the City equal to five percent (5%) of the gross revenues of such person derived from the provision of such other service over the cable system, unless prohibited by state or federal law.

F. The fact that a fee is paid based on revenues derived from one type of service provided over a cable system, does not excuse an operator from its duty to pay fees and taxes imposed by the City on other types of services provided over that facility. As an example, and not as a limitation of the foregoing, a cable operator who pays a franchise fee on revenues derived from the provision of cable services must pay the fees imposed upon non-cable service providers to the extent that it provides such services.

G. General rules for payment of fees.

1. Unless otherwise specified in a franchise agreement, franchise fees and in lieu fees shall be paid to the City and delivered to the City Treasurer quarterly, and not later than thirty (30) calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter.

2. Each payment shall be accompanied by a statement showing the manner in which the fee was calculated.

3. No acceptance by the City of any fee shall be construed as an accord that the amount paid is in fact the correct amount, nor shall such acceptance of such payment be construed as a release of any claim the City may have for additional sums payable.

4. The franchise fee or in lieu fee payment is not a payment in lieu of any tax, fee or other assessment except as specifically provided in this Chapter, or as required by the Municipal Code or other applicable law.

5. Within ninety (90) calendar days following the end of the calendar year, each person required to pay a fee based upon gross revenues shall submit a statement, attested to by a certified public accountant or the chief financial officer of such person, setting forth gross revenues of the cable system, by category, and describing what revenues were included and what revenues, if any, were excluded in the fee calculation, and any adjustments made to gross revenues.

6. If payments are delinquent, in addition to paying any applicable penalties or damages, the person owing the fee shall pay a fifteen percent (15%) penalty and interest on the amount owed at the rate of one and one-half percent (1½%) per month. In addition where the underpayment exceeded three percent (3%) of the amount due for the audit period, or $10,000, whichever is less, grantee shall pay the cost of any audit performed that identified the underpayment.

7. The City may, upon five (5) business days advance written notice, inspect and examine any and all books and records it deems necessary to the determination of whether fees have been accurately computed and paid. Revenue records shall be maintained for at least five (5) years.

8. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event a person obligated to pay a fee ceases to provide service for any reason (including as a result of a transfer), such person shall make a final payment of any amounts owed to the City within ninety (90) calendar days of the date its operations in the City cease, and shall provide a statement of gross revenues for the calendar year through the date operations ceased, which statement shall contain the information and certification required by this Section.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

If the grantee offers subscribers cable service in conjunction with other telecommunications or other services in bundled packages, it shall also offer subscribers the various individual cable services in an unbundled format.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

Pursuant to any authority granted to local governments by federal law or regulations, if the grantee offers data transmission services operating on the same infrastructure as a cable video system pursuant to this Chapter, the grantee shall provide open access to Internet service providers for all subscribers in the City.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The grantee shall provide separate channel capacity for educational and governmental programming, which shall be exclusive to the City, and for local origination programming, as specified in the franchise agreement. The channel number(s) to be used for the education and the government access shall be designated by the City and shall be common among all franchise holders within the City. The channel shall be included in all basic subscriber packages.

B. The grantee shall not exercise any editorial control over educational and governmental channels provided pursuant to this Chapter.

C. The grantee shall provide an annual contribution to the cost of operating the education-government channel in a manner prescribed in the franchise agreement.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The grantee shall provide a public access channel that is available for use to the general public. The grantee shall provide studio space and technical assistance free of charge to any member of the public to produce and broadcast video productions of an original nature, as may be specified in the franchise agreement.

B. The studios shall be located so as to be convenient to residents of the City and shall be available to the public at reasonable hours of the day and on weekends.

C. The grantee may regulate the use and content of the public access channel to the extent permitted by federal law and FCC regulations.

D. The City may place other requirements on public access as shall be negotiated with the grantee and included in the franchise agreement.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. Every operator of a cable communications system shall obtain and maintain a performance bond to ensure the faithful performance of its responsibilities under this Chapter and any franchise. The amount of the performance bonds shall be set by the City Manager or may be set in a franchise agreement in light of the nature of the work to be performed pursuant to or under the franchise, but initially shall not be less than ten percent (10%) of the estimated cost of constructing or (in the case of existing systems) upgrading the cable communications system. The bond is not in lieu of any additional construction or other bonds that may be required through any permitting process. The bond shall be in a form acceptable to the City Attorney. Bonds must be obtained prior to the effective date of any franchise, transfer or franchise renewal, unless a franchise ordinance specifically provides otherwise.

B. The City Manager may permit a cable communications system operator to eliminate or reduce the amount of the bond upon successful completion of the required construction and after the system performs as promised for one year after completion, if the City Manager determines that (i) the operator has substantially complied with its obligations under its franchise and applicable law; and (ii) the letter of credit maintained by the operator, plus any remaining amount of the bond will be adequate to ensure performance.

C. Letter of credit or cash security fund.

1. Every cable communications system operator shall establish and maintain a cash security fund or provide the City an irrevocable letter of credit in an amount specified in the franchise agreement, except as provided below. The letter of credit will remain in effect for the full term of the franchise plus an additional six (6) months thereafter.

2. The letter of credit or security fund shall secure the payment of franchise fees, secure any other performance required under this Chapter or a franchise, and secure the payment of other taxes, fees, charges or liens to the City. The letter of credit shall be in a form and with an institution acceptable to the City Treasurer and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.

3. Neither the filing of a letter of credit or security fund with the City, nor the receipt of any damages recovered by the City thereunder, will be construed to excuse faithful performance by the grantee or limit the liability of the grantee under the terms of its franchise for damages, either to the full amount of the letter of credit or security fund, or otherwise.

4. The rights reserved to the City with respect to the letter of credit or security fund are in addition to all other rights of the City, whether reserved by applicable law or the franchise, and no action, proceeding, or exercise of a right with respect to such security fund or letter of credit will affect any other right the City may have.

5. If a grantee fails to timely perform a requirement under this Chapter or a franchise, or fails to pay a franchise fee, or any tax, fee, lien or other amount owed to the City when due, the City may withdraw from a grantee's security fund or letter of credit the amount that the grantee owes, with interest and penalties, upon ten (10) days written notice to grantee. If, in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare, the City is required to perform construction or other work to rectify grantee's failure to perform, the City may withdraw from grantee's security fund or letter of credit the amount to cover the work performed by City. The City may not be prevented from drawing upon the letter of credit or security fund even if the amount owed, or whether an amount is owed, is in dispute. If it is determined that the City improperly drew upon the letter of credit or security fund, the City shall return the funds withdrawn plus interest, if any, owed by grantee to the person providing the letter of credit.

6. The City will notify grantee immediately if it draws upon the letter of credit or security fund, and explain the act or omission which it claims justified the withdrawal. Should the City withdraw from the letter of credit or security fund, grantee will then have fourteen (14) days to restore the letter of credit or security fund to its full required amount, and must do so unless a court of competent jurisdiction rules otherwise.

7. The City may from time to time, upon reasonable notice and after affected grantees have had an opportunity to respond thereto, increase the amount of the required letter of credit or security fund to reflect increased risks to the City and to the public.

8. The cash security fund or letter of credit must be obtained prior to the effective date of any franchise, transfer, or franchise renewal, unless a franchise agreement specifically provides otherwise.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. No franchise shall be valid or effective until and unless the City obtains an adequate indemnity from the grantee. To the extent permitted by law, the indemnity must:

1. Release the City from and against any and all liability and responsibility in or arising out of the construction, operation, repair or maintenance of the cable communications system; and

2. Indemnify and hold harmless the City, its elected and appointed officials, agents, and employees, from and against any and all claims, demands, or causes of action of any kind or nature, and the resulting losses, costs, expenses, reasonable attorneys' fees, liabilities, damages (including consequential damages), orders, judgments, or decrees sustained by the City or any indemnified party rising out of, or by reason of, or resulting from or arising out of the acts, errors, or omissions of the cable communications system operator, or its agents, independent contractors or employees related to the construction, operation and/or repair of the system.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. A grantee, at its sole cost and expense, shall purchase and maintain not less than the commercial general liability insurance, business vehicle liability insurance, and workers compensation insurance required by this Chapter, and each franchise agreement shall require each grantee to satisfy insurance requirements that the City may establish from time to time.

1. Commercial general liability insurance: policy limits shall be no less than five (5) million dollars per occurrence for all coverages and ten (10) million dollars general aggregate. The City and its elected and appointed officials, employees, agents and volunteers shall be added as additional insured. Coverage shall apply on a primary non-contributing basis in relation to any other insurance or self-insurance, primary or excess, available to the City or any officer, employee, agent or volunteer of the City.

a. Coverage shall not be limited to the vicarious liability or supervisory role of any additional insured. There shall be no cross liability exclusion and no contractor limitation endorsement. In addition, there shall be no endorsement or modification limiting the scope of coverage for liability arising from pollution, explosion, collapse, underground property damage or employment-related practices.

b. Any umbrella liability insurance over primary provided to meet primary insurance limits shall apply to bodily injury, other personal injury or property damage at a minimum, and shall include a "drop down" provision providing primary coverage for liability not covered by primary policies but covered by the umbrella policy. Coverage shall be as broad as any underlying coverage. Coverage shall be provided with defense costs payable in addition to policy limits. Policy limits shall be not less than five (5) million dollars per occurrence and in the aggregate above any limits required in the underlying policies.

2. Business vehicle coverage shall be no less than one (1) million dollars per accident and in the aggregate. The policy shall be scheduled as underlying insurance to any umbrella policy required above for a total limit of no less than one (1) million dollars each accident.

3. The grantee shall provide workers' compensation statutory benefits as required by law. Employer's liability limits shall be no less than one (1) million dollars per accident or disease. Employer's liability coverage shall be scheduled under any primary or umbrella policy described above. Unless otherwise agreed, this policy shall be endorsed to waive any right to subrogation as respects the City or any of City's elected or appointed officials, employees, agents or volunteers.

B. Additional insurance requirements:

1. All insurance shall be submitted in a form approved by the City Attorney.

2. Grantee's insurance shall be written by insurers authorized to do business in the State, with a minimum "Best's Insurance Guide" rating of AA.

3. Coverage shall not be limited to the specific location or individual or entity designated as the address of the project.

4. Each grantee shall ensure that coverage provided to meet these requirements is applicable separately to each insured, and that there will be no cross liability exclusions that preclude coverage for suits between grantee and the City, between the City and any other named insured or additional insured under the policy, or between the City and any party associated with the City or the City's officers, employees, agents or volunteers.

5. The grantee will provide written proof to the satisfaction of the City Attorney that policies of insurance required herein expiring during the term of its franchise have been renewed or replaced with other policies providing at least the same coverage, and satisfying any other insurance requirements that may be applicable. Such written proof shall be furnished at least thirty (30) days before expiration or termination of coverage.

6. No general or auto liability insurance coverage provided in connection with the grantee's franchise shall prohibit grantee, and grantee's employees or agents, from waiving the right of subrogation prior to a loss.

7. A grantee shall provide immediate notice to the City of any claim or loss against grantee that includes the City as a defendant. The City assumes no obligation or liability by such notice, but has the right (but not the duty) to monitor the handling of any such claim or claims if they are likely to involve the City.

C. A grantee shall file the required original certificate of insurance with endorsements or other satisfactory proof of insurance prior to the effective date of its franchise; the certificate shall be subject to approval by the City Attorney's office. In the case of franchises in effect as of the effective date of this Chapter, certificates of insurance shall be provided within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this Chapter, unless the franchise limits amounts and proofs of insurance to those specified in that existing franchise.

D. The grantee shall require all subcontrators operating in the City under its direction or authority to maintain at all times the insurance requirements contained in this Section. The subcontractor shall provide proof of such insurance coverage to the City prior to commencement of any work.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

The City Engineer shall approve all construction within the public rights-of-way. In addition to providing maps and plans as required by this Chapter and by any franchise agreement, a grantee shall submit final as-built plans to the City Engineer pursuant and in compliance City Code § 9.08.307.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

Grantee shall be subject to and shall comply with all provisions of the City's Rights-of-Way Management Plan and Standards and other requirements of the municipal code, including all future modifications thereto.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. A grantee and other persons engaged in the construction, operation or repair of cable communications system shall satisfy all applicable laws, ordinances, resolutions, departmental rules, regulations, written policies, and practices affecting the use of private and public property by the cable communications system, including by way of example and not limitation, the City's building and zoning codes, as well as satisfying the requirements of this Chapter and any additional requirements included in a franchise agreement.

B. A franchise is required before a permit may be issued for work associated with the construction, operation or repair of a cable communications system. Any permit issued for such work to a person who does not hold a franchise shall vest no rights in the permittee and shall be void as if never issued, at the sole option of City. Any such putative permittee shall remove all facilities installed under the permit upon and in full compliance with City's demand.

C. Each grantee shall locate and maintain the portions of its cable system on rights-of-way and other public property, in such manner as to cause no unreasonable interference with the use of said property by any person and in accordance with standards set by the City Engineer.

D. Each grantee shall use existing poles and conduit where possible. Additional poles may not be installed in the public rights-of-way without the prior written approval of the City Engineer.

E. Any damage caused to the rights-of-way or public or private property by grantee or those performing work on a grantee's behalf shall be promptly repaired or replaced by grantee to the satisfaction of the property owner, or the City. Each grantee will restore public property and public rights-of-way by a time and in a manner directed by the City.

F. Grantee, at its sole expense, shall remove and/or relocate the cable system in connection with public projects as set forth in the City municipal code, under the direction of the City Engineer, including relocating to an underground location.

1. The City shall provide written notice describing where the public work is to be performed and a deadline for completing the work at least fifteen (15) days prior to the deadline by which a cable communications system operator must protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate or remove its facilities. The cable communications system operator may seek an extension of the time to perform the work where it cannot be performed by the deadline even with the exercise of due diligence, and such request for an extension will not be unreasonably denied. Provided that, in an emergency, or where a cable communications system creates or is contributing to an imminent danger to health, safety, or property, the City may protect, support, temporarily disconnect, remove, or relocate any or all parts of the cable communications system without prior notice, and charge the cable communications system operator for reasonable costs incurred.

G. Installation of systems by others authorized to use public rights-of-way or public property.

1. To accommodate the construction, operation, or repair of the facilities of another person authorized to use the public rights-of-way or public property, a grantee shall, by a time specified by such person, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate or remove its facilities. The grantee shall be given written notice describing where the construction, operation or repair is to be performed at least fifteen (15) days prior to the time by which its work must be completed. Unless the matter is governed by a valid contract or a state or federal law or regulation, or unless the cable communications system that is being requested to move was not properly installed, the reasonable cost of the same shall be borne by the person requesting the protection, support, temporary disconnection, removal, or relocation and at no charge to the City, even if the City makes the request for such action. In cases where the requesting person is required under this Section to bear the cost of relaying, relocation or temporary removal, a grantee may require the person to agree, before the work is performed, to pay the reasonable actual cost of the work. If the grantee does so, it must provide an estimate of the cost of the work and support for that estimate.

H. At the request of any person holding a valid permit issued by a governmental authority, a cable communications system operator shall temporarily raise or lower its wires by a time specified to permit the moving of buildings or other objects. A cable communications system operator shall be given not less than fifteen (15) days advance notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes. The cable communications system operator, as a condition of complying with such request, may require the requesting person to pay the reasonable materials and labor expense of such temporary removal or raising or lowering of wires, provided that the operator provides an estimate of the cost of the work and support for that estimate. In cases where the requesting person is required under this Section to bear the cost of raising or lowering wires, the operator may require payment of the estimated expense in advance.

I. Abandonment.

1. A cable communications system operator may abandon any property in place in the public rights-of-way or upon public property upon written notice to the City and separate notice to the City Engineer. However, if, within ninety (90) days of the receipt of written notice of abandonment, the City determines that the safety, appearance, functioning or use of the public right-of-way or public property and facilities in the public right-of-way or on public property will be adversely affected, the property must be removed by a date reasonably specified by City in light of the amount of work to be performed. No property shall be abandoned within the ninety (90) day period for City review.

2. A cable communications system operator that abandons its property must, upon request, transfer ownership of the property to the City at no cost, and execute necessary quitclaim deeds; provided that nothing in the preceding sentence prevents a cable communications system operator from bringing an action in a court of competent jurisdiction if it believes that the cable communications system was not abandoned. Whether or not ownership is transferred, the operator must indemnify City against future costs associated with mitigating or eliminating any hazard associated with the abandoned property.

J. If a cable communications system operator fails to perform work on public property or the public rights-of-way (including restoration work) required by this Chapter, a franchise agreement or any other provision of law by the time it is required to be performed, the City may perform the work and bill the cable communications operator for the costs incurred by City, plus administrative charges, or a draw down on the letter of credit.

K. Any amount billed to a cable communications operator pursuant to this Section must be paid within thirty (30) days of the date of the bill.

L. Upon request of City, every cable communications system shall be required to interconnect with every other cable communications system within City on fair and reasonable terms for purposes of providing PEG and Institutional Network services. In the event of a dispute, the City may issue an order establishing the terms and conditions under which interconnection shall occur, and any grantee shall comply with the order.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The City shall have the right to inspect and copy books and records: related in whole or in part to the construction, operation or repair of the cable communications system; that City deems relevant to monitoring compliance with the terms of this ordinance, a franchise or applicable law; or that the City deems relevant to the exercise of any right or duty of the City under the same. Each cable communications system operator is responsible for maintaining control over such books and records whether created by grantee, or by those acting on its behalf. It is responsible for producing these records upon City's request, for City's inspection and copying. The records that grantee may be required to produce shall include, but are not limited to revenue records, and other records related to compliance with any provision of this Chapter or a franchise ordinance. Books and records must be maintained for a period of five (5) years. The phrase "books and records" shall be read expansively to include information in whatever format stored.

B. Books and records requested shall be produced to the City by a time and at a location in City designated by the City Treasurer or City Manager, or designated in a franchise ordinance. However, if the requested books and records are too voluminous, or for security reasons cannot be copied and moved, or if the requested books and records contain trade secrets, then the grantee may request that the inspection take place at some other location mutually agreeable to the City and the grantee, and the City will not unreasonably deny the request, provided that (i) the grantee makes necessary arrangements for copying documents selected by City after its review; and (ii) the grantee pays all travel and additional copying expenses incurred by City (above those that would have been incurred had the documents been produced in City, including those incurred by any outside auditors, consultants or attorneys retained by the City to review the franchise) in inspecting those documents or having those documents inspected by its designee.

C. Any proprietary information received by City from a grantee must be clearly marked as proprietary information that the grantee asserts is not required to be disclosed pursuant to the California Public Records Act. If a third party seeks release of a privileged document held by City, City will notify the grantee so that the grantee may seek court protection against the release of the document.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. The City Manager may from time to time direct a grantee to prepare reports regarding its cable communication system and its operations within or affecting the City, and to submit those reports by a date certain, in a format prescribed by the City Manager, in addition to those required by this Chapter or a franchise agreement.

B. Unless an exemption is granted by the City Manager, no later than ninety (90) days after the end of its fiscal year, a grantee shall submit the following information, except that the information on grantee's officers, members of its boards of directors, other principals, stockholders or equity investors holding five percent (5%) or more of the voting interest, need only be provided where there has been a change from the preceding year:

1. A summary of the previous year's (or in the case of the initial report year, the initial year's) activities in development of the cable communications system, including but not limited to, services begun or discontinued during the reporting year, and the number of subscribers for each class of service.

2. A fully audited report by an independent, certified public accountant, of gross revenues from the previous calendar year for the cable communications systems attributable to the franchise area, and a certified statement setting forth the computation of gross revenues used to calculate the franchise fee for the preceding year and a detailed explanation of the method of computation showing (i) gross revenues by category (e.g., basic, pay, pay-per-view, advertising, installation, equipment, late charges, franchise collections, miscellaneous, other), with specific listings of new revenue sources added during the year; (ii) what, if any, deductions were made from gross revenues in calculating the franchise fee (e.g., bad debt, credits and refunds), and the amount of each deduction; (iii) in the case of revenues allocated to the system, the total revenues, the allocation methodology used, and the resulting revenues allocated to the system, and (iv) a list of subsidiaries added during the year.

C. When requested by the City Manager, within forty-five (45) days of the end of each calendar quarter, a grantee shall submit a report to City containing the following information:

1. The number of service calls (calls requiring a truck roll) received by type, by quarter, and the percentage of service calls compared to the subscriber base by type of complaint.

2. The number and type of outages known by the grantee by quarter, identifying separately the following:

a. Each planned outage, the time it occurred, its duration, and the estimated area and number of subscribers affected;

b. Each known unplanned outage, the time it occurred, its estimated duration and the estimated area and the number of subscribers affected, and if known, the cause;

c. The total estimated hours of known outages as a percentage of total hours of system operation by quarter. The term "outage" means any event affecting five (5) or more subscribers and resulting in a loss of sound or video or, or a substantial deterioration of the signal on any channel.

3. A report showing, for each applicable customer service standard, the grantee's performance with respect to that standard for each quarter of the preceding year. In each case where grantee concludes it did not comply fully, the grantee will describe the corrective actions it is taking to assure future compliance. In addition, the report should identify the number and nature of the customer service complaints received and an explanation of their dispositions.

4. A summary of the system indicating miles and dwelling units passed.

5. A statement of projected construction, if any, for the next two (2) years.

6. Annual proof of performance tests, in sufficient detail to enable the City to ascertain that the technical standards of the franchise are achieved and maintained.

D. Within ten (10) days of their receipt or (in the case of documents created by the cable communications system operator or a person acting on its behalf) filing, a grantee shall provide the City:

1. Notices of deficiency or forfeiture from a state or federal agency or court of competent jurisdiction related to the operation of the cable communications system other than notices of deficiency or forfeiture from the City; and

2. Any request for protection under bankruptcy laws, or any judgment related to a declaration of bankruptcy by the grantee or by any partnership or corporation that owns or controls the grantee directly or indirectly.

E. Copies of all reports materially adversely affecting the franchise that are submitted by the grantee to the FCC or any other federal or state agency shall be submitted to the City simultaneously with the filing of such reports with said agencies. The grantee's routine public correspondence to said agencies need not be automatically submitted to the City, but shall be made available to the City upon written request.

F. Grantees shall submit to the City such other information or reports in such forms and at such times as the City may reasonably request or require, provided such information or reports are reasonably related to the grantee's compliance with its obligations under the franchise.

G. All reports and records required under this or any other Section shall be furnished at the sole expense of the grantee.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. Except to the extent prohibited by law, every cable communications system shall be subject to inspection and testing by the City. Except in emergencies, the City will provide reasonable advance written notice to a grantee when a city inspection will require the grantee's cable communications system to be moved or when a device is attached to any portion of the grantee's cable communications system located more than twelve (12) inches outside a subscriber's premises. Inspections will be conducted to not unreasonably interfere with cable communications system operations. Each operator must timely and fully respond to requests for information regarding its system and plans for the system as the City may from time to time issue, including requests for information regarding its plans for construction, operation and repair and the purposes for which the plant is being constructed, operated, or repaired.

B. Except insofar as federal law preempts this requirement, upon request of the City, a grantee shall perform all tests necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the franchise agreement and other technical and performance standards established by applicable law. Unless a franchise agreement or applicable law provides otherwise, all tests shall be conducted in accordance with federal rules and in accordance with the most recent edition of National Cable Television Association's "Recommended Practices for Measurements on Cable Television Systems," or such other manual as may be directed under FCC regulations. A written report of any test results shall be filed with the City within seven (7) calendar days of completion of the tests. If a location fails to meet technical or performance specifications, the grantee, without requirement of additional notice or request from the City, shall promptly take corrective action, and retest the locations.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

Upon request, a grantee will file with the City any and all reports filed with the FCC or any other regulatory body having jurisdiction over any aspects of the operations of the grantee or its direct and indirect parents related in any way to the cable communications system, or a of systems of which the cable communications group system in the City is a part. This Section does not waive the City's right to service or filing under federal or state laws or regulations, and each grantee must provide copies of documents as required under the same.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The refusal, failure, or neglect of a grantee to file any of the reports, perform the tests or to provide access to books and records or to its system as required under this Chapter, where such refusal, failure or neglect is not be remedied following due notice and an opportunity to cure; or the repeated refusal, failure or neglect to comply, even if individual failures are corrected after notice and opportunity to cure; or the inclusion of any materially false or misleading statement or representation in any report, shall be deemed a material breach of the franchise.

B. For purposes of this Section, notice is sufficient if the City Manager (or the City Treasurer with respect to financial reports) notifies the grantee in writing that grantee has failed to provide a requested report, perform a test, or provide access to books and records or to its plant. A grantee will be deemed to have failed to cure unless it provides the requested reports, performs the tests or provides the access to books and records and to its plant within fifteen (15) days of the date of the notice, or such longer period as the City Manager may specify in the notice.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

Unless the City Manager specifically waives the requirement in writing, a grantee shall at all times maintain:

A. Records of all complaints received within the prior five (5) years, their nature and resolution. The term "complaints" refers to complaints about any aspect of the grantee's construction, operation or repair activities;

B. Records of outages known to the grantee, their cause and duration;

C. Records of service calls for repair and maintenance indicating the nature of the call for service, the date and time service was requested, the date of acknowledgment and date and time service was scheduled (if it was scheduled), and the date and time service was provided, and (if different) the date and time the problem was solved;

D. Records of installation/reconnection and requests for service extension, indicating date of request, date of acknowledgment, and the date and time service was extended; and

E. Records sufficient to show whether the grantee has complied with each customer service standard that applies to it.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

At the sole discretion of the City Manager, the City Manager may temporarily exempt any grantee from its obligations under §§ 11.21.210, 11.21.215 and 11.21.225 if the City Manager determines that the requirement would be unduly burdensome or unnecessary; and that the City and subscriber interests may be adequately protected in some other manner.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A grantee shall take all reasonable steps required so that it is able to provide reports, books and records to the City, including by providing appropriate subscriber privacy notices. Each grantee shall be responsible for redacting data that applicable law prevents it from providing to the City. Nothing in this Section shall be read to require a grantee to violate state or federal subscriber privacy laws.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The purpose of this Section is to authorize the imposition of penalties for the violation of the consumer service standards established in §§ 11.21.300, 11.21.305, 11.21.310 and 11.21.315, in accordance with the Video Customer Service Act (Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 53088 et seq.). These penalties are in addition to any other remedies provided by this Chapter, the franchise agreement, or any other law, and the City has the sole discretion to elect the remedy that it will apply. The imposition of penalties authorized by this Section will not prevent the City or any other affected party for exercising any other remedy to the extent permitted by law, including but not limited to any judicial remedy as provided below.

B. The City Manager is authorized to administer this Section. Decisions by the City Manager to assess penalties against the grantee must be in writing and must contain findings supporting the decision. Decisions by the City Manager are final, unless appealed to the City Council.

1. If the grantee or any interested person is aggrieved by a decision of the City Manager, the aggrieved party may, within ten (10) days of the written decision, appeal that decision in writing to the City Council through the City Clerk's office. The fee established by the City Council for processing the appeal must accompany the appeal letter. The City Council may affirm, modify, or reverse the decisions of the City Manager.

2. The following schedule of monetary penalties may be assessed against the grantee for the material breach of the provisions of the consumer service standards set forth above, provided that the breach is within the reasonable control of the grantee.

a. The maximum penalty is two hundred dollars ($200) for each day of material breach, but not to exceed six hundred dollars ($600) for each occurrence of the material breach.

b. For a second material breach of the same nature within a twelve (12) month period for which the City has provided notice and a penalty has been assessed, the maximum penalty is four hundred dollars ($400) for each day of the material breach, but not to exceed one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) for each occurrence of the material breach.

c. For a third material breach of the same nature within a twelve (12) month period for which the City has provided notice and a penalty has been assessed, the maximum penalty is one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day of the material breach, but not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each occurrence of the material breach.

3. The maximum penalties referenced above shall be increased by any additional amount authorized by state law.

C. This Section does not preclude any affected party from pursuing any judicial remedy available to that party without regard to this Section.

D. Any penalty assessed under this Section will be reduced dollar for dollar to the extent any liquidated damage provision of a franchise imposes a monetary obligation on a franchisee for the same customer service failures, and no other monetary damages may be assessed. A citation may be served on the franchisee by providing a copy to the person to whom notices are to be sent under the franchise. Penalties will be imposed pursuant to procedures set forth in the municipal code, applied in a manner consistent with Cal. Gov’t Code § 53088(2)(q) and (r).

E. Notwithstanding any other penalties or remedies provided by this Section, the franchise agreement, or any other law, the grantee must provide the following months of free service to subscribers affected by the grantee's failure to comply with the specified consumer protection and service standards:

1. One month free service. The grantee will provide one month of free service to each subscriber affected by the failure of the grantee to timely and satisfactorily comply with any of the following requirements:

a. The pickup or replacement of converters or other equipment within fourteen (14) days after subscriber request is received.

b. Forty-eight (48) hour notice of service interruption.

c. Response time for system outages.

d. Resolution of cable system related problems within three (3) business days. One additional month of free service will be provided for each seven (7) day period that the problem remains unresolved.

e. Written response to billing complaints.

f. Credits and refunds.

g. Provisions of all required information to subscribers.

h. Notification of rate, service, or channel changes.

i. Completion of termination or downgrade of service.

j. Provision of parental control devices.

k. Provisions of customer privacy rights.

2. Three months free service. The grantee will provide three (3) months of free service to each subscriber affected by the grantee's disconnection of subscriber service without just cause, provided that the grantee fails to restore service within four (4) hours after the disconnect.

3. Definition of free service. The free service required by this Section relates to the service tier subscribed to by the affected subscriber at the time of the failure to comply.

F. Each franchise agreement shall contain a provision specifying liquidated damages payable to the City in the event of a significant material breach of a franchise obligation where damages are otherwise difficult to ascertain. Nothing in this Section shall preclude the addition of liquidated damages to the penalties otherwise contained herein.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. The City Council may revoke a franchise or reduce the term of a franchise if it finds, after a hearing, that a cable communications system operator has violated any provision of this Chapter or applicable law, committed a substantial breach of material terms of its franchise or repeatedly failed to comply with its franchise; has defrauded or attempted to defraud the City or subscribers; or has attempted to evade the requirements of this Chapter or its franchise.

1. Such a breach includes, but not be limited to:

a. If the grantee practices, or attempts to practice, any fraud or deceit upon the City.

b. If the grantee becomes insolvent, unable or unwilling to pay its debts, or upon listing of an order for relief in favor of grantee in a bankruptcy proceeding.

c. If the grantee materially fails to meet the consumer service standards established in the franchise consistently over a three (3) month period of time.

d. If the grantee fails to provide or maintain in full force and effect, the liability and indemnification coverage, letter of credit or bonds required by the franchise.

e. If the grantee willfully violates any orders or rulings of any regulatory body having jurisdiction over the grantee relative to the franchise, provided that the grantee may contest any such orders or rulings by appropriate proceedings conducted in good faith, in which case no breach of the franchise shall be deemed to have occurred if the notice of violation is overturned.

f. If the grantee ceases to provide all cable service over all or a substantial portion of its cable system for a period of five (5) days or more, for any reason within the control of the grantee.

g. If the grantee willfully fails to make any payments required under the franchise and/or refuses to provide the City with required information, reports and/or test results in a timely manner as provided in the franchise.

h. If the grantee fails to initiate scheduled system construction or reconstruction more than one (1) year after construction is to be begin for any reason within the control of the grantee.

i. If delays in completion of scheduled system construction or reconstruction exceed six (6) months for any reason within the control of the grantee.

j. Any other act or omission by the grantee which materially violates the terms, conditions or requirements of the franchise or any order, directive, rule or regulation issued thereunder and which is not corrected or remedied within the time set forth in the written notice of the violation or, if the grantee cannot reasonably correct or remedy the breach within the time set forth in such notice, if the grantee should fail to commence to correct or remedy such violation within the time set forth in such notice and diligently effect such correction or remedy thereafter.

B. Before conducting a hearing to revoke a franchise, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter: (i) the City Manager must have given notice of a claimed violation, breach, default or failure; and (ii) the grantee must have been given thirty (30) days to cure the claimed default, except as provided herein, provided that the cure period for failure to remit franchise fees is fifteen (15) days. An opportunity to cure is not required where the City finds that the defect in performance is due to willful misconduct, is an adjudicated violation of criminal law, or is part of a pattern of violations where the grantee has already had notice and opportunity to cure. The grantee will be given at least twenty (20) days notice of the hearing date, and will be provided an opportunity to be heard at the hearing.

C. The City may declare a franchise forfeited without opportunity to cure where (i) a grantee abandons its cable communications system; or (ii) a transfer subject to the City's prior consent occurs without the prior consent of City.

D. The cable communications system or a part thereof, will be deemed abandoned if (i) the cable communications system operator notifies the City of its intent to abandon; (ii) the cable communications system operator willfully ceases providing cable service in accordance with its franchise; or (iii) the cable communications system operator does not provide cable service over the cable communications system or a part of the system for ninety-six (96) consecutive hours, and is not restoring service with all due diligence.

E. A franchise will terminate automatically by force of law one hundred twenty (120) calendar days after an assignment for the benefit of creditors or the appointment of a receiver or trustee to take over the business of the grantee, whether in a receivership, reorganization, bankruptcy assignment for the benefit of creditors, or other action or proceeding. However, the franchise may be reinstated within that one hundred twenty (120) day period, if: (i) such assignment, receivership or trusteeship has been vacated; or (ii) such assignee, receiver or trustee has fully complied with the terms and conditions of this Chapter and the franchise, and has executed an agreement, approved by any court having jurisdiction, assuming and agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Chapter and the franchise.

F. In the event of foreclosure or other judicial sale of any of the facilities, equipment or property of a grantee, the City may revoke the franchise by serving notice upon the grantee and the successful bidder at the sale, in which event the franchise and all rights and privileges thereunder will be revoked and will terminate thirty (30) calendar days after serving such notice, unless: (i) the City has approved the transfer of the franchise to the successful bidder; and (ii) the successful bidder has covenanted and agreed with the City to assume and be bound by the terms and conditions of the franchise and this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. Upon termination or forfeiture of a franchise, whether by action of the City as provided in § 11.21.245, or by passage of time, the City may do one or a combination of the following:

1. The grantee must, as the City so directs, stop using the cable communications system for the purposes authorized by the franchise.

2. The grantee must, as the City directs, continue providing service pursuant to the terms of its franchise agreement for such reasonable period as may be required to arrange for another cable communications system to provide service.

3. The City may require the former grantee to remove all or a portion of its facilities and equipment at the former grantee's expense, subject to grantee's right to abandon property in place. In removing its cable communications system, grantee shall restore affected property to comply with all then-applicable codes, and to as good or better condition as existed prior to removal. If the former grantee fails to do so within a reasonable period of time, the City may have the removal done at the former grantee's and/or surety's expense.

4. The City, by resolution of the City Council, may acquire ownership or effect a transfer of all or a portion of the cable communications system at an equitable price if termination or forfeiture is for cause, or if termination or forfeiture is not for cause, at fair market value, not including the value of the franchise.

5. If a cable communications system or any part thereof is abandoned by the grantee, the City may require the grantee to transfer title to the all or some of the abandoned portions to it, as the City may direct, at no charge, free and clear of encumbrances, and the same will become the City's property and the City may keep, sell, assign, or transfer all or part of the assets of the cable communications system, or otherwise dispose of those assets as it sees fit. The cable communications system or a part thereof will be deemed abandoned if:

a. The cable communications system operator notifies the City of its intent to abandon;

b. The cable communications system operator willfully ceases providing cable service in accordance with its franchise;

c. The facility or equipment is not used or useful in the provision of then-existing or planned cable services; or

d. The cable communications system operator does not provide cable service over the cable communications system or a part of the system for ninety-six (96) consecutive hours, and is not restoring service with all due diligence.

B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City may not, pursuant to this section, issue an order that violates 47 USC 541(b)(3)(c).

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

All remedies provided for under this Chapter, or under a franchise ordinance, shall be cumulative and are in addition to all other remedies which may be available at law or equity, including but not limited to the California False Claims Act (Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 12650 et seq.), provided, however, that the City is not entitled to recover damages for the same act or omission under multiple remedies where doing so would result in a double recovery of damages by the City for the same harm. Recovery by the City of any amounts under insurance, the performance bond, the security fund or letter of credit, or otherwise does not limit in any way a grantee's duty to indemnify the City nor shall such recovery relieve a grantee of its franchise obligations, limit the amounts owed to the City, or in any respect prevent the City from exercising any other right or remedy it may have.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

CONSUMER PROTECTION

A. Each cable operator shall comply with consumer protection standards adopted by the City from time to time by ordinance or by resolution; FCC customer service standards; and any customer service standards that may be specified in a franchise agreement. Each cable operator shall comply with state consumer protection laws and regulations. In the event of a conflict among standards, the stricter standard shall apply.

B. For good cause shown, the City Manager may grant a temporary waiver of any City customer service standard where the City Manager determines:

1. Because of particular circumstances involved, enforcement of the standard is not necessary to protect consumers; and

2. Granting the waiver is in the public interest, considering the potential benefits to the grantee and consumers.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. Staffing. The failure of the grantee to hire sufficient staff or to properly train its staff will not justify a grantee failure to comply with any provision of this Section.

B. Office availability.

1. Each cable system operator will maintain at least one office at a convenient location within the City that will be open for walk-in traffic at least ten (10) hours per day (except legal holidays) Monday through Friday, with some evening hours, and at least four (4) hours on Saturday to allow persons to purchase, terminate or modify service, register complaints, pay bills, drop off equipment and to pick up equipment.

2. Each office must be accessible to all persons, including the elderly and persons with disabilities. Adequate parking must be provided within reasonable proximity of the office.

3. The City may temporarily waive a cable system operator's obligation to allow drop-off and pick-up of equipment if the cable system operator offers free pick-up and delivery of equipment in a manner and at times convenient to customers.

C. Service call hours. Each cable system operator will perform service calls, installations, and disconnects at least nine (9) hours per day Monday through Saturday, except legal holidays. In addition, a cable system operator must respond to service interruptions affecting two (2) or more subscribers served from the same node twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week.

D. Telephones.

1. General. Each cable system operator must have a publicly listed focal telephone number under the name by which cable system operator is doing business in the City. Customer service representatives must answer the phone twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, for the purposes of receiving and responding to requests for service, inquiries, reports of service problems, and complaints; except that, the company may use an automated response unit or outsourced answering service during the period 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., so long as the system is set up so that the company can satisfy its obligation to respond to service interruptions.

2. Telephone answering time.

a. Telephone answering time will not exceed thirty (30) seconds; and

b. The time to transfer the call to a customer service representative (including hold time) will not exceed an additional thirty (30) seconds.

c. Under normal operating conditions, the standards set out in this division (D) of this section must be met ninety percent (90%) of the time, measured quarterly. The phrase "of the time" refers to the percentage of calls to a cable system operator during normal operating conditions, so that if 1,000 calls are received by a cable system operator during normal operating conditions, 900 of those calls must be answered within the time limits specified in this Section.

3. Under normal operating conditions, customers will receive a busy signal less than three percent (3%) of the time, measured quarterly. The phrase "of the time" refers to the percentage of calls to a cable system operator during normal operating conditions. Thus if 1,000 persons call a cable system operator, fewer than 30 callers should receive a busy signal.

E. Scheduling work.

1. A cable system operator may schedule appointments for service, installation, or disconnection for a specific time, a time block or, solely at the discretion of the person requesting service, installation or disconnection, "all day." Time blocks may not exceed four (4) consecutive hours in length. A cable system operator may also, upon request, schedule appointments outside normal business hours, for the express convenience of the customer. These options shall be clearly explained to the customer at the time of scheduling.

2. The cable system operator will attempt to call the person who scheduled the appointment between the hours of 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the day prior to any appointment as a reminder of scheduled work. If the call is not answered, cable system operator shall attempt to make the reminder call the next morning, prior to the scheduled appointment time.

3. If an installer or technician anticipates that he or she will be late for an appointment, an attempt to contact the customer will be made immediately and the appointment rescheduled at a time convenient to the customer, if rescheduling is necessary.

4. A cable system operator may not reschedule or cancel a service or installation appointment with a customer after the close of business, on the business day preceding the scheduled appointment.

5. Under normal operating conditions, an operator must satisfy each of the standards set forth in § 11.21.305(D)(2)-(3) of this Chapter, at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the time, measured quarterly. The phrase "of the time" refers to the number of appointments.

6. If the cable system operator misses an appointment, it will describe and offer the customer a choice of the following:

a. The installation or service call free of charge, if the appointment was for an installation or service call for which a fee was to be charged; or one (1) month of the two most widely subscribed to service tiers free of charge for other appointments; or

b. An opportunity to elect remedies under Cal. Civil Code § 1722 as may be amended, if applicable.

F. Service standards.

1. Requests for service, repair, and maintenance must be acknowledged by a trained customer service representative within twenty-four (24) hours, or before the end of the next business day, whichever is earlier.

2. A cable system operator will respond to all other inquiries (including billing inquiries) within five (5) business days of the receipt of the inquiry or complaint.

3. Repairs and maintenance for service interruptions, system outages and/or substandard reception quality must be completed within twenty-four (24) hours after the outage or interruption becomes known to a cable system operator where the cable system operator has adequate access to facilities to which it must have access in order to remedy the problem.

4. Work to correct all other service problems must be begun by the next business day after notification of the service problem, and must be completed within five (5) business days from the date of the initial request.

5. Except as a franchise agreement may otherwise provide, service must be extended upon request to any prospective subscriber in a cable system operator's franchise area.

G. Subscribers with disabilities. With regard to subscribers with disabilities, upon subscriber request, each cable system operator will arrange for pickup and/or replacement of converters or other cable system operator equipment at the subscriber's address or by a satisfactory equivalent (such as the provision of a postage-prepaid mailer), without a special charge.

H. Disconnection and downgrades; voluntary.

1. A subscriber may terminate or downgrade service at any time.

2. A cable system operator will disconnect from the cable system operator cable system or downgrade any subscriber who so requests within seven (7) business days. No period of notice before voluntary termination or downgrade of cable service may be required of subscribers by any cable system system operator. There will be no charge for disconnection, and any downgrade charges will conform to applicable law. This Section does not apply to promotional contracts where a subscriber received an actual discount from standard service rates for a multi-month contract, so long as (i) the disconnect fee plus the amount paid by the customer is no higher than the amount the customer would have paid for service actually received before the disconnect request at the cable system operator's prevailing rates for the service; (ii) the disconnect fee was stated prominently and in writing, and provided to the customer before the customer began taking service; and (iii) the subscriber was given the option of disconnecting without a disconnect fee within the first fifteen (15) days after subscriber began receiving the discounted service.

3. Any security deposit and/or other funds, including interest, due a subscriber that disconnects or downgrades service will be returned to the subscriber within thirty (30) days from the date disconnection or downgrade was requested except in cases where the subscriber does not permit the cable system operator to recover its equipment, in which case the amounts owed will be paid to subscribers within thirty (30) days of the date the equipment was recovered.

I. Involuntary disconnection for non-payment.

1. A cable system operator may not disconnect a subscriber's cable service for non-payment unless:

a. The subscriber is delinquent in payment for cable service for more than sixty (60) days.

b. A separate, written notice of impending disconnection, postage prepaid, has been sent to the subscriber at least twenty (20) days before the date on which service may be disconnected, at the premises where the subscriber requests billing, which notice must identify the names and address of the subscriber whose account is delinquent, state the date by which disconnection may occur if payment is not made, and the amount the subscriber must pay to avoid disconnection, and a telephone number of a representative of the cable system operator who can provide additional information concerning and handle complaints or initiate an investigation concerning the services and charges in question.

c. The subscriber fails to pay the amounts owed to avoid disconnection by the date of disconnection.

d. No pending inquiry exists regarding the bill to which the cable system operator has not responded in writing.

2. If the subscriber pays all amounts due, including late charges and the City's utility users tax, before the time scheduled for disconnection, the cable system operator shall not disconnect service. Service may only be terminated on days in which the customer can reach a representative of the cable system operator either in person or by telephone.

3. After disconnection (except as noted below), upon payment by the subscriber in full of all proper fees or charges, including the payment of the reconnection charge and the City's utility users tax, if any, the cable system operator will promptly reinstate service.

J. Immediate disconnection.

1. A cable system operator may immediately disconnect a subscriber if:

a. The subscriber is damaging, destroying, or unlawfully tampering with or has damaged or destroyed or unlawfully tampered with the cable system operator's cable system;

b. The subscriber is not authorized to receive a service and is receiving it and/or is facilitating, aiding or abetting the unauthorized receipt of service by others; or

c. Subscriber-installed or attached equipment is resulting in signal leakage that is in violation of FCC rules.

2. After disconnection, the cable system operator will restore service after the subscriber provides adequate assurance that it has ceased the practices that led to disconnection, and paid all proper fees and charges, including any reconnect fees and all amounts owed the cable system operator for damage to its cable system. Provided that, no reconnection fee may be imposed on a subscriber disconnected pursuant to this Section if the disconnect was the result of the cable system operator's acts or omissions; or in any case unless the cable system operator notifies the subscriber of the leakage at least three (3) business days in advance of disconnection, and the subscriber has failed to correct the leakage within that time.

K. Each cable system operator must have sufficient trucks, tools, testing equipment, monitoring devices and other equipment and facilities and the trained and skilled personnel required so that cable system operator complies with each and every requirement of applicable law, including applicable customer service requirements, technical standards, maintenance standards and requirements for responding to system outages. This includes the facilities, equipment and staff required to:

1. Properly test the system and conduct an ongoing and active program of preventive maintenance and quality control;

2. Quickly respond to customer complaints and resolve system problems.

L. Each cable system operator must install and maintain equipment necessary to measure its performance with applicable customer services standards that the City may adopt from time to time after providing cable system operator opportunity to comment; except that cable system operator may obtain relief temporarily from this requirement if it shows that (i) it has a high level of subscriber satisfaction; (ii) there are alternative, adequate ways to review its performance; or (iii) for other good cause shown.

M. Knowledgeable, qualified representatives shall be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries, including multi-lingual representatives, during the hours the office is required to be open. Any automated answering equipment will provide multi-lingual alternatives. After hours, if the cable system operator uses persons to answer the phone, it will use its best efforts to provide multi-lingual alternatives. When service calls are scheduled by a non-English speaking customer, cable system operator shall offer to have the service call made by a multi-lingual representative.

N. The term "normal operating conditions" shall have the meaning specified in FCC rules provided that, in the event that a cable system operator provides customer service via a center that serves multiple communities, and an events, such as an outage, occurs in the other communities but not in the City, conditions will be deemed to be "normal operating conditions" for purposes of determining compliance with this ordinance. It is the cable system operator burden to prove that a period was not one where "normal operating conditions" existed. Absent proof satisfactory to the City, each period will be deemed to be a period where "normal operating conditions" apply. Each cable system operator must maintain records sufficient to show that a particular period was not a period where "normal operating conditions" existed in the City.

O. The term "service interruption" means the loss of picture or sound or any other significant part of a signal on one or more cable channels.

P. Changes in service. Except as otherwise provided by federal law, subscribers shall not be required to pay any additional fee or charge, other than the regular service fee, in order to receive the services selected (such as upgrade or downgrade charges). No charge may be imposed for any service or product that the subscriber has not affirmatively selected. Payment of the regular monthly bill shall not by itself constitute an affirmative selection by a subscriber.

Q. Deposits. The grantee may require a reasonable, nondiscriminatory deposit on equipment provided to subscribers. Such deposits must be placed on an interest-bearing account. The interest earned may not be less than that paid for commercial saving accounts. The deposit must be returned, with interest earned to the date of repayment, within thirty (30) days after the equipment is returned to the grantee, or the subscriber's next regular billing cycle, whichever is sooner.

R. Parental control option. The grantee must provide parental control devices to all subscribers who desire to block the video or audio portion of any programming that the subscriber finds objectionable. Such devices will be provided at no charge to the subscriber, unless otherwise required by federal law or unless a converter box is required to be installed for the purpose of providing the parental control device. If a converter box is required, only a deposit fee and installation fee may be charged.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. Identification of employees and work.

1. Each grantee shall require any person working on its behalf to wear a picture identification badge indicating that they are working on behalf of grantee. This badge shall be clearly visible to the public. All company vehicles shall prominently display the name under which the grantee is doing business, and logo, if any, in a manner clearly visible to the public. Contractor vehicles shall prominently display the contractor name, contractor license number, if applicable, and prominently display the grantee name. There must be a listed local telephone number for the names displayed.

2. The telephone number posted must be a local number. The phone must connect to persons trained to receive, and respond to calls regarding employees; construction and problems (including repair problems) associated with construction.

B. General subscriber notices. A grantee will provide each subscriber at the time service is installed, at least once annually thereafter, and at any time upon request, clear and accurate written information regarding:

1. How to use cable service;

2. How to place a service call, file a complaint, or request an adjustment (including when a subscriber is entitled to refunds for outages and how to obtain them);

3. The telephone number of the City office responsible for administering the cable franchise;

4. A schedule of rates and charges, channel positions, services provided, a copy of the service contract, delinquent subscriber disconnect and reconnect procedures; notifying subscribers of the availability of parental control devices, and the conditions under which they will be provided and the cost (if any) charged;

5. Any discounts offered (other than discounts offered under bulk contracts), and description of conditions that must be met to qualify for discounts;

6. Where and how payments can be made, and description of late charge practices.

7. Any other grantee policies in connection with its subscribers, including but not limited to its privacy policies; and

8. A description of any services or specialized equipment available to subscribers with disabilities, explaining how to obtain and use them.

C. Notices in bills.

1. Each bill shall prominently display the number to be called for billing and for other complaints, and for refunds and rebates, and must identify the address to which bills should be mailed, and the local addresses for in-person bill payments.

2. Each bill shall prominently display the name of the City office responsible for regulating cable on the bill. The information shall be placed and described so as to clearly distinguish it from information regarding the grantee.

D. Each grantee will provide the City at least sixty (60) days written notice, and all subscribers at least thirty (30) days written notice of any material changes in the information required to be provided under this Section except that, if federal law establishes a shorter notice period and preempts this requirement, the federal requirement will apply. If federal law preempts the requirement for written notice in certain cases, this provision will require that the grantee use another reasonable method for providing notice to the extent the written notice requirement is preempted. To be reasonable, grantee must be able to demonstrate that each subscriber responsible for making pertinent decisions had actual knowledge as to the means by which notice would be given, and that the grantee had some valid, empirical basis for concluding that notices so given were being received and understood by subscribers.

E. A grantee shall notify the City Manager immediately if a service interruption affects fifty (50) or more subscribers for a time period greater than three (3) hours. The City Manager shall establish appropriate methods for the notification required herein, including any procedures for notification after normal business hours.

F. A grantee shall provide the City with copies of all notices provided to its subscribers. If notice is given by some means other than in writing, the City must be provided a copy of the notice, as given. For example, if notice was given via the cable system, a tape of the notice must be provided to the City. Further, the City must be advised precisely how and when the notice was provided. If notice was provided on particular channels, the City must be told what channels were used.

G. A grantee must take appropriate steps to ensure that all written grantee promotional materials, announcements, and advertising of cable service to subscribers and the general public, where price information is listed in any manner, clearly and accurately discloses price terms. In the case of telephone orders, a grantee will take appropriate steps to ensure that price terms are clearly and accurately disclosed to potential customers in advance of taking the order.

H. A grantee shall not charge a subscriber for any service or equipment that the subscriber has not affirmatively requested by name. A subscriber's failure to refuse a cable operator's proposal to provide such service or equipment is not an affirmative request for service or equipment. A subscriber's affirmative request may be made orally or in writing, but it is the grantee burden to show that the affirmative request was made, and to retain records sufficient to prove that the affirmative request was made. This Section shall be read to require affirmative subscriber consent to take service whenever there is a change in the nature of an existing service or tier of service being received by a subscriber.

I. Each grantee will maintain a file, available for public inspection during the hours its office is open to the public, containing all notices provided to subscribers under these customer service standards, as well as all promotional offers made to subscribers. The notices and offers will be kept in the file for at least one (1) year from the date of such notice or promotional offer.

J. Billing credits.

1. All first billing statements after a new installation or service change will be prorated as appropriate and will reflect any security deposit.

2. All billing statements must be clear, concise, and understandable; must itemize each category of service and equipment provided to the subscriber; and must state clearly the charges therefor.

K. A grantee's billing statement must show a specific payment due date not earlier than the later of:

1. Fifteen (15) days after the date the statement is mailed; or

2. The tenth (10th) day of the service period for which the bill is rendered.

L. A late fee or administrative fee (collectively referred to below as a "late fee") may not be imposed for payments earlier than thirty (30) days after the due date specified in the bill.

M. A grantee must permit a subscriber to remit payment by mail or in person at the grantee's local office. Subscribers may not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by a grantee, including failure to timely or correctly bill the subscriber, or failure to properly credit the subscriber for a payment timely made. Payments will be considered timely if received by mail by 6:00 p.m. on or before the date the late fee would otherwise be due and if payment is made in person at any time up to the time the local office is closed on or before the date the late fee would otherwise be due.

N. Credit for service impairment.

1. A subscriber's account will be credited a prorated share of the monthly charge for the service upon request if a subscriber is without service or if service is substantially impaired for any reason for a period equal to or exceeding three (3) hours during any twenty-four (24) hour period; or automatically if the loss of service or impairment is for twenty-four (24) hours or longer.

2. A subscriber shall be deemed to have requested a credit if the subscriber requests a credit or complains about a service interruption within sixty (60) days of the outage.

3. A grantee need not credit subscriber where it establishes that a subscriber would obtain a credit for a loss of service or impairment caused by the subscriber or by subscriber-owned equipment (not including, for purposes of this Section, in-home wiring installed by the grantee). The grantee bears the burden of proving that the subscriber caused the service loss or impairment.

4. Refunds and/or credits for service will be issued no later than the next billing cycle of the customer following the determination that a credit is warranted.

O. A grantee may require a reasonable, non-discriminatory deposit on equipment provided to subscribers. When deposits are placed in an interest-bearing account, grantee will return the deposit, plus interest earned to the date the deposit is returned to the subscriber, less any amount the grantee can demonstrate should be deducted for damage to such equipment. The deposit must be returned within thirty (30) days of the date the equipment is returned, or the next billing cycle, whichever is sooner.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

A. Privacy rights of subscribers.

1. As used in this Section, "valid authorization" means written approval from the subscriber.

2. Each grantee shall strictly observe and protect the rights of privacy and of property of subscribers and users at all times. Information on individual subscribers, individual subscriber preferences of any kind, viewing habits, political, social or economic philosophies, beliefs, creeds, religions or names, addresses or telephone numbers shall not be revealed to any person, governmental unit, private agency or company, unless upon the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction, by statute, or upon valid authorization of the subscriber. The authorization shall be contained in a separate document with a prominent statement that the subscriber is authorizing the permission in full knowledge of its provisions. The statement shall be in print size not less than twelve (12) points in height, and must specifically state the right of the subscriber not to grant such permission without penalty. Such authorization shall not in any event be required as a condition of receiving service.

3. The grantee may release the number of its subscribers only as a total number, as a percentage of the potential subscribers throughout its franchise area, or as a number of viewers of individual channels. When indicating the number of subscribers viewing a particular channel at a particular time, a grantee shall indicate only the total number of subscribers viewing during the relevant time and the percentage of all subscribers that they represent, but never the identity of a particular subscriber.

4. A grantee may obtain and/or maintain only such information relating to subscribers as is necessary to conduct legitimate business activity related to cable service, or any other service the grantee shall provide to subscribers.

5. A subscriber may, at any time, revoke any valid authorization previously made, by delivering to the grantee in writing, by mail or otherwise, his or her decision to so revoke. Any such revocation shall be effective upon receipt by grantee.

6. No monitoring of any subscriber terminal shall take place without specific prior written authorization by the user of the terminal in question; provided, however, a grantee may conduct system-wide or individually addressed "sweeps" for the purpose of verifying system integrity, security monitoring, and/or addressable premium service implementation or verification. In no event shall residential aural or visual monitoring of any kind take place without a clear indication to the subscriber that such monitoring is taking place.

7. A grantee may, without prior subscriber approval, monitor those subscriber terminals that are connected to utility monitoring devices that measure utility usage and which have been first approved by the City Council.

8. Prior to the implementation of any interactive subscriber response mechanism, a grantee shall first demonstrate to the satisfaction of the City Manager that such a mechanism can provide effective protection against invasion of privacy.

9. A grantee shall not tabulate any test results, nor permit the use of the cable communications system for such tabulation, in a manner that would reveal the commercial product preferences of opinions of subscribers without valid authorization.

10. Each compilation, publication, tabulation or other dissemination of information made or permitted to be made in violation of this Section with respect to a single occurrence or series of related occurrences may result in the imposition of liquidated damages, pursuant to the franchise agreement.

11. The rights accorded subscribers pursuant to this Section are in addition to any other privacy right accorded subscribers pursuant to federal or state law.

12. The grantee shall not market mailing lists with the names and addresses of subscribers unless the subscribers have been provided the opportunity to prohibit or limit such disclosure. The grantee shall provide a form that permits the subscriber to check a box and mail in the form to delete his or her name from the mailing list. Said form shall be provided to all subscribers upon initiation of service.

13. Notwithstanding anything in this Section to the contrary, nothing herein shall prohibit a grantee from using its cable communications system to collect and disclose such information necessary to render, or conduct a legitimate business activity related to a cable service or other cable service provided by the operator to the subscriber. This right shall not extend to any parent company, owner, partner or affiliate of the grantee.

B. No exclusivity; tenant rights.

1. A grantee may not require a subscriber or a building owner or manager to enter into an exclusive contract as a condition of providing or continuing service.

2. It is the City's intent that tenants not be discriminated against in the ability to subscribe to cable services. Each grantee shall be required to provide service to tenants in individual units of a multiple housing facility with all services offered to other dwelling units within the franchise area, so long as the owner of the facility consents in writing, if requested by the grantee, to provide access to the building, and permit the operator to provide cable services for the reasonable period required to recoup the cost of any wiring required within the building, but outside the demarcation point for each individual apartment as defined by FCC regulations.

C. Discrimination prohibited. A cable communications system operator shall comply with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing equal employment opportunities, and hiring practices, as the same may be amended from time to time.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

CABLE FRANCHISE RENEWALS

A. If the provisions of 47 USC 546(a)-(g) are properly invoked, the City may:

1. Conduct a proceeding to review the grantee's past performance and identify future cable-related community needs and interests;

2. Issue an Request for Proposal (RFP);

3. Establish deadlines, which deadlines will not be less than forty-five (45) days after issuing the RFP, and procedures for responding to the RFP;

4. Provide public notice and opportunity to comment after grantee submits a renewal proposal;

5. Seek additional information from the grantee, related to the City's evaluation of the proposal given the standards for review of that proposal under applicable law;

6. Establish deadlines, which deadlines will not be less than twenty (20) days after issuing the request, for submitting additional information; and

7. After receiving the application responding to the RFP, and any additional information required, the City Council may determine, by resolution, that the cable franchise should be renewed, or make a preliminary assessment that the cable franchise should not be renewed.

B. If the City Council preliminarily decides that the cable franchise should not be renewed, and the grantee notifies the City, either in its RFP response or within thirty (30) business days of the preliminary decision, that it wishes to pursue any rights to an administrative proceeding it has under the Cable Act, then the City will commence an administrative proceeding after providing prompt public notice thereof, in accordance with the Cable Act.

C. If, following negotiations, the City Council preliminarily decides to grant renewal:

1. The City will prepare a proposed franchise agreement that incorporates, as appropriate, the commitments made by the grantee in the application.

2. If the grantee concurs in the proposed agreement, it will be agendized for additional City Council action. If adopted by the City Council, the cable franchise will be renewed and approved by Council resolution.

3. If the cable franchise grant is not accepted and ratified within the time limits established by 47 USC 546(c)(1), then renewal is deemed preliminarily denied, and an administrative proceeding will be commenced if the grantee requests it within thirty (30) business days of the expiration of the time limit established by 47 USC 546(c)(1), unless the time limit is extended by mutual agreement of the City and the grantee.

D. If an administrative hearing is commenced pursuant to 47 USC 546(c), the grantee's application will be evaluated considering such matters as may be considered consistent with applicable law.

E. The grantee is not prohibited from submitting an informal renewal application pursuant to 47 USC 546(h), which application may be granted or denied in accordance with the provisions of 47 USC 546(h).

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. Grantee will promptly notify the City of any proposed transfer. If any transfer should take place without prior notice to the City, the grantee will promptly notify the City that such a transfer has occurred.

B. At least one hundred twenty (120) calendar days before the contemplated effective date of a transfer, the grantee will submit to the City an application for approving the transfer. Such application will provide complete information on the proposed transaction, including details on the legal, financial, technical, and other qualifications of the transferee.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The following information must be included in the application:

1. All information required in this Chapter for applications;

2. All information and forms required under applicable law;

3. A detailed statement of the corporate or other business entity organization and management structure of the proposed transferee, together with an explanation of how decisions regarding the cable system will be made if the proposed transaction is approved;

4. Any contracts or other documents that relate to the proposed transaction, including all documents, schedules, exhibits, or the like referred to therein and all material facts concerning the effect of the transfer on the financial position of the cable system and the grantee;

5. Any shareholder reports or filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") that discuss the transaction;

6. Complete information regarding any potential impact of the transfer on subscriber rates and service;

7. The City may require the grantee, or any prospective transferee, to provide additional information as it may deem necessary to determine whether the transfer is in the public interest and should be approved, denied, or conditioned. The grantee and any prospective transferees will assist the City in any such inquiry and provide information requested. Failure to do so may result in the request for transfer being denied.

B. The applicant shall pay all reasonable costs incurred by the City in reviewing and evaluating the application.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. In determining whether to grant, deny, or grant subject to conditions an application for a transfer of a cable franchise, the City may consider:

1. The legal, financial, and technical qualifications of the transferee to operate the cable system;

2. Any potential impact of the transfer on subscriber rates or services;

3. Whether the incumbent grantee is in compliance with ifs cable franchise and applicable law and, if not, the proposed transferee's commitment to cure such noncompliance;

4. Whether the transferee owns or controls any other cable system in the City, and whether operation by the transferee may eliminate or reduce competition in the delivery of cable service in the City; and

5. Whether operation by the transferee or approval of the transfer would adversely affect subscribers, the public, or the City's interest under the cable franchise, or applicable law.

B. Requests for approval of a transfer will not be unreasonably denied.

C. No application shall be granted unless the transferee agrees in writing that it will abide by and accept all terms of this Chapter and the franchise agreement, and that it will assume the obligations, liabilities, and responsibility for all acts and omissions, known and unknown, of the previous grantee for all purposes.

D. The proposed transferee shall pay all reasonable costs incurred by City in reviewing and evaluating the applications.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. In order to be legally qualified:

1. The applicant must not have had any cable system franchise revoked by the City within three (3) years preceding the submission of the application. If franchisee challenges a revocation, it may not apply while the appeal is pending, or for three (3) years after the final resolution of the appeal if the revocation is valid.

2. The applicant may not have had an application to City for an initial or renewal cable system franchise denied on the ground that the applicant failed to propose a cable system meeting the cable related needs and interests of the community, or as to which any challenges to such franchising decision were finally resolved (including any appeals) adversely to the applicant, within three (3) years preceding the submission of the application; and may not have had an application for an initial or renewal franchise denied on any ground within three (3) years of the application.

3. The applicant shall not be issued a franchise if, at any time during the ten (10) years preceding the submission of the application, applicant was convicted of fraud, racketeering, anti-competitive actions, unfair trade practices or other conduct of such character that the applicant cannot be relied upon to deal truthfully with the City and the subscribers, or to substantially comply with its obligations.

4. Applicant must have the necessary authority under state and federal law to operate a cable system, or show that it is in a position to obtain that authority.

5. The applicant shall not be issued a franchise if it files materially misleading information in its application or intentionally withholds information that the applicant lawfully is required to provide.

6. For purposes of § 11.21.440(A)(1)-(4), the term applicant includes any affiliate of applicant.

B. Notwithstanding § 11.21.440(A), an applicant shall be provided a reasonable opportunity to show that a franchise should be issued even if the requirements of § 11.21.440(A)(2)-(4) are not satisfied, by virtue of the circumstances surrounding the matter and the steps taken by the applicant to cure all harms flowing therefrom and prevent their recurrence, the lack of involvement of the applicant's principals, or the remoteness of the matter from the operation of a cable system.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

Each cable franchise grant, during the term of the cable franchise, will ensure that subscribers are able to receive continuous service and that, in the event the cable franchise is revoked or terminated, the grantee may be obligated to continue to provide service for a reasonable period to assure an orderly transition of service from the grantee to another entity.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

Except insofar as this requirement is preempted by federal law, any cable system within the City will meet or exceed the technical standards set forth in 47 CFR 76(K) and prevailing applicable technical standards.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. A cable grantee shall promptly notify the City of any proposed transfer, and submit an application for its approval at least one hundred twenty (120) calendar days in advance of the proposed and anticipated transfer date.

B. The City Manager may specify information that must be provided in connection with a transfer application. At a minimum, an application must: describe the persons involved in the transaction and the person that will hold the franchise; describe the chain of ownership before and after the proposed transaction; show that the person that will hold the franchise will be legally, financially, and technically qualified to do so; attach complete information on the proposed transaction, including the contracts or other documents that relate to the proposed transaction, and all documents, schedules, exhibits, or the like referred to therein; and attach any shareholder reports or filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") that discuss the transaction.

C. For the purposes of determining whether it shall consent to a transfer, the City or its agents may inquire into all qualifications of the prospective transferee and such other matters as the City may deem necessary to determine whether the transfer is in the public interest and should be approved, denied, or conditioned. If the transferee or grantee refuse to provide information, or provide incomplete information, the request for transfer may be denied.

D. Consideration of application.

1. In deciding whether a transfer application should be granted, denied or granted subject to conditions, the City may consider the legal, financial, and technical qualifications of the transferee to operate the cable system; whether the incumbent operator is in compliance with its franchise agreement and this Chapter and, if not, the proposed transferee's commitment to cure such noncompliance; whether the transferee owns or controls any other cable system in the City, and whether operation by the transferee may eliminate or reduce competition in the delivery of cable service in the City; and whether operation by the transferee or approval of the transfer would adversely affect subscribers, the public, or the City's interest under this Chapter, the franchise agreement, or other applicable law.

2. Requests for approval of a transfer will not be unreasonably denied.

3. No application shall be granted unless the transferee agrees in writing that it will abide by and accept all terms of this Chapter and the franchise agreement, and that it will assume the obligations, liabilities, and responsibility for all acts and omissions, known and unknown, of the previous grantee for all purposes. The proposed transferee shall pay all reasonable costs incurred by the City in reviewing and evaluating the applications.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2; Ord. No. 2006-009 § 22 (part))

STATEWIDE VIDEO FRANCHISEES

A. Fee for support of local cable usage. The City Council reserves its right under Cal. Public Utilities Code §5870(n) to establish a fee for the support of public, educational and governmental access facilities and activities within the City, which fee shall be paid by state video franchise holders operating within the City. Unless a higher percentage is authorized by applicable state or federal law, this fee when adopted shall not exceed one percent (1%) of a state video holder's gross revenue, as defined in Cal. Public Utilities Code §5860.

B. Franchise fee. A state video franchise holder operating in the City shall pay the City a franchise fee that is equal to five percent (5%) of the gross revenues of that state video franchise holder. The term GROSS REVENUES shall be defined as set forth in Cal. Public Utilities Code §5860.

C. Audit authority. Not more than once annually, the City may examine and perform an audit of the business records of a holder of a state video franchise, to ensure compliance with all applicable statutes and regulations related to the computation and payment of franchise fees.

D. Customer service penalties under state video franchises.

1. The holder of a state video franchise shall comply with all applicable state and federal customer service and protection standards pertaining to the provision of video service.

2. The City shall enforce a state video franchise holder's compliance with state and federal customer service and protection standards. The City will provide to the state video franchise holder written notice of any material breaches of applicable customer service and protection standards, and will allow the state video franchise holder 30 days from receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material breach. Material breaches not remedied within this 30-day time period will be subject to the following monetary penalties to be imposed by the City in accordance with state law:

a. For the first occurrence of a violation, a monetary penalty of $500 shall be imposed for each day the violation remains in effect, not to exceed $1,500 for each violation.

b. For a second violation of the same nature within 12 months, a monetary penalty of $1,000 shall be imposed for each day the violation remains in effect, not to exceed $3,000 for each violation.

c. For a third or further violation of the same nature within 12 months, a monetary penalty of $2,500 shall be imposed for each day the violation remains in effect, not to exceed $7,500 for each violation.

3. A state video franchise holder may appeal a monetary penalty within 60 days after it is assessed by the City. After relevant evidence and testimony is received, and staff reports are submitted, the City Council will vote to either uphold or vacate the monetary penalty. The City Council's decision on the imposition of a monetary penalty shall be final.

E. City response to state video franchise applications.

1. Applicants for state video franchises within the boundaries of the City must concurrently provide to the City complete copies of any application or amendments to applications filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. One complete copy must be provided to the City Manager.

2. The City will provide any appropriate comments to the California Public Utilities Commission regarding an application or an amendment to an application for a state video franchise.

F. PEG channel capacity. Unless otherwise required by law, a state video franchise holder shall designate sufficient capacity on its network to enable the carriage of at least three public, educational or governmental (PEG) access channels.

1. PEG access channels shall be for the exclusive use of the City or its designees to provide public, educational or governmental programming.

2. Advertising, underwriting or sponsorship recognition may be carried on the PEG access channels for the purpose of funding PEG-related activities.

3. The PEG access channels shall be carried on the basic service tier.

4. To the extent feasible, the PEG access channels shall not be separated numerically from other channels carried on the basic service tier, and the channel numbers for the PEG access channels shall be the same channel numbers used by the incumbent cable operator, unless prohibited by federal law.

5. After the initial designation of PEG access channel numbers, the channel numbers shall not be changed without the prior written consent of the City, unless the change is required by federal law.

6. Each PEG access channel shall be capable of carrying a National Television System Committee (NTSC) television signal.

G. Interconnection. Where technically feasible, a state video franchise holder and incumbent cable operator shall negotiate in good faith to interconnect their networks for the purpose of providing PEG access channel programming. Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable, microwave link, satellite, or other reasonable method of connection. State video franchise holders and incumbent cable operators shall provide interconnection of the PEG access channels on reasonable terms and conditions, and may not withhold the interconnection. If a state video franchise holder and an incumbent cable operator cannot reach a mutually acceptable interconnection agreement, the City may require the incumbent cable operator to allow the state video franchise holder to interconnect its network with the incumbent's network at a technically feasible point on the holder's network as identified by the holder. If no technically feasible point for interconnection is available, the state video franchise holder shall make an interconnection available to the channel originator, and shall provide the facilities necessary for the interconnection. The cost of any interconnection shall be borne by the state video franchise holder requesting the interconnection, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties.

H. Emergency Alert System and emergency overrides. A state video franchise holder must comply with the Emergency Alert System requirements of the Federal Communications Commission, in order that emergency messages may be distributed over the holder's network. Provisions in City-issued franchises authorizing the City to provide local emergency notifications shall remain in effect, and shall apply to all state video franchise holders in the City for the duration of the City-issued franchise, or until the term of the franchise would have expired had it not been terminated pursuant to Cal. Public Utilities Code §5840(m), or until January 1, 2009, whichever is later.

I. Encroachment permit applications and appeal procedures.

1. As used in this Subsection I., the term ENCROACHMENT PERMIT means any permit issued by the City relating to construction or operation of facilities in public rights-of-way by the holder of a state video franchise.

2. The City shall either approve or deny an application from a holder of a state video franchise for an encroachment permit within 60 days of receiving a completed application, unless that 60-day period is extended by agreement of the City and the applicant.

3. If the City denies an application for an encroachment permit, the City shall, at the time of notifying the applicant of the denial, furnish to the applicant written notice of the reason for the denial. An applicant may appeal the City's denial of an encroachment permit application to the City Council, in accordance with the following procedures:

a. No notice of appeal will be processed unless filed within ten days after service of written notice of the decision from which the appeal is taken; provided that, if written notice of the decision has not been served, the appellant may, within ten days after being apprised of that decision, demand service of written notice, and will have ten days following that service in which to file the notice of appeal.

b. The notice of appeal must specify the specific decision from which the appeal is taken, the specific grounds for the appeal, and the relief or action requested from the City Council.

c. The notice of appeal must be accompanied by such fee as have been established by resolution of the City Council.

d. Upon the timely filing of a notice of appeal in proper form, the City Clerk will schedule the matter for hearing by the City Council at a regular meeting, but not later than 45 days after receipt of the notice of appeal. The City Clerk will cause the notice of hearing to be given to the appellant not less than ten days prior to the hearing, unless that notice is waived in writing by the appellant. The City Clerk will also cause a copy of the notice of appeal and the hearing to be transmitted to the city official or body whose decision is being appealed.

e. At the time of consideration of the appeal by the City Council, the appellant will be limited to a presentation on the specific grounds of appeal and related matters set forth in its notice of appeal. The appellant will have the burden of persuading the City Council that the decision appealed from should be reversed or modified.

f. The City Council may continue the hearing on the appeal from time to time as may be deemed necessary. The City Council may, by resolution, affirm, reverse or modify, in whole or in part, the decision appealed from, and may take any action that might have been taken in the first instance by the city official or body from whose decision the appeal has been taken.

g. The decision of the City Council will be deemed final and conclusive upon adoption of the resolution. A copy of the resolution adopted by the City Council will be served upon the appellant by placement in the United States mail, postage prepaid, to the appellant's last known address.

(Ord. No. 2007-010 § 1)

MISCELLANEOUS

Each grantee shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the state and federal government or any administrative agencies thereof.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

A. The operator of any cable communications system installed as of the effective date of this Chapter, for which a franchise is required under this Chapter, shall have three (3) months from the effective date of this Chapter to file one (1) or more applications for a franchise. Any operator timely filing such an application under this Section shall not be subject to a penalty for failure to have such a franchise so long as said application remains pending; provided, however, nothing herein shall relieve any cable communications system operator of any liability for its failure to obtain any permit or other authorization required under other provisions of the City Municipal Code, and nothing herein shall prevent the City from requiring removal of any facilities installed in violation of the City Municipal Code.

B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any person holding an existing franchise for a cable communications system may continue to operate under the existing franchise to the conclusion of its present term (but not any renewal or extension thereof) with respect to those activities expressly authorized by the franchise; and provided further that, such person shall be subject to the other provisions of this Chapter to the extent permitted by law.

C. A person with a pending application shall have thirty (30) days from the effective date of this Chapter to submit additional information to comply with the requirements of this Chapter governing applications.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

Grantee shall maintain an address for service of notices by mail within Los Angeles County, California through the term of the franchise, and as shall be more specifically indicated in the franchise agreement.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)

If any provisions of this Chapter is determined by any court of competent jurisdiction, or by any federal or state agency having jurisdiction over its subject matter, to be invalid and in conflict with any paramount federal or state law or regulation now or hereafter in effect, or is determined by that court or agency to require modification in order to conform to the requirements of that paramount law or regulation, then that part of this Chapter will be ineffective, and such determination will not affect the validity and enforceability of any other provisions. If that paramount federal or state law or regulation is subsequently repealed or amended so that the provisions of this Chapter determined to be invalid or subject to modification is no longer in conflict with that law or regulation, then that provisions will again become effective and will thereafter be binding on any affected grantee.

(Ord. No. 2001-014 § 2)