Fullerton Municipal Code Ch. 3.14 Catv Franchise

Section

Editor’s note:

The franchise granted by Ord. 2326 was transferred to Comcast Corporation by Ord. 0-2610

For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number.

AGREEMENT. The agreement entered into between grantee and grantor on June 21, 1983. Said AGREEMENT is hereby adopted and approved and incorporated by reference into this franchise and constitutes an amendment therefor. A copy of the agreement is on file in the office of the City Clerk.

CATV. A community antenna television system, as hereinafter defined.

COMMUNITY ANTENNA TELEVISION SYSTEM. A system of antenna, coaxial cables, wires, wave guides or other conductors, equipment or facilities designed, constructed or used for the purpose of providing television or FM radio service by cable or other facilities as licensed by this franchise.

CITY. The City of Fullerton, a municipal corporation of the State of California, in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.

COUNCIL. The present governing body of the city or any future board constituting the legislative body of the city.

FRANCHISE. Includes any authorization granted hereunder in terms of a franchise, privilege, permit, license or otherwise to construct, operate and maintain a CATV system in the city. Any such authorization, in whatever term granted, shall not mean and include any license or permit required for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the city in accordance with Chapter 4.06 of this code.

GRANTEE. Teleprompter Corporation, a New York corporation, and its lawful successor, transferee or assignee.

GROSS ANNUAL RECEIPTS. The annual gross revenues received by the grantee from all sources of operation of the cable television system, including advertising, except that any sales, excise or other taxes, or other payments elected for direct passthrough to local, state or federal government shall not be included, nor shalt a feed originating outside the city and passing through the city destined for a location outside the city be included, nor shall revenues arising from distribution of programming or advertising produced in city studios to areas outside the city be included.

PROPERTY OF GRANTEE. All property owned, installed or used by grantee in the conduct of a CATV business in the city under the authority of franchise granted pursuant to the ordinance codified herein.

STREET. The surface of and the space above, and below any public street, road, highway, lane, path, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway or drive, now or hereafter existing as such within the city.

SUBSCRIBER. Any person or entity receiving for any purpose the CATV service of the grantee.

PROPOSAL. The proposal for a community antenna television (CATV) system, dated June 23, 1980, submitted by grantee to the city, which is hereby adopted and approved. A copy of said proposal is on file in the office of the City Clerk.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980; Ord. 2476, passed - -1983)

When and in the event that the grantee constructs, operates and maintains a CATV system exclusively through telephone company facilities constructed, operated and maintained pursuant to a state-granted telephone franchise and offers satisfactory proof that in no event during the life of such franchise shall the grantee make any use of the streets independently of such telephone company facilities, said grantee is required to comply with all of the provisions hereof as a “licensee” and in such event whenever the term “grantee” is used herein, it shall be deemed to mean and include “licensee.”

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

A nonexclusive franchise to construct, operate and maintain a CATV system within all of the city, in accordance with this chapter, is transferred from Theta Cable of California, Inc., to Teleprompter Corporation pursuant to its offer to furnish and provide such system under and pursuant to Teleprompter’s proposal dated June 23, 1980, on file in the office of the City Clerk, hereby adopted by the City Council.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) The grantee is authorized and permitted to engage in the business of operating and providing a CATV system in the city, and for that purpose to erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, maintain and retain in, on, over, under, upon, across and along any public street, such poles, wires, cable, conductors, ducts, conduit, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, attachments and other property as may be necessary and appurtenant to the CATV system and in addition, so to use, operate and provide similar facilities or properties rented or leased from other persons, firms or corporations, including, but not limited to, any public utility or other grantee franchised or permitted to do business in the city. The grantee may utilize city-owned rights-of-way up to the border of the City of Placentia to feed signal to the CATV system serving that city. No other provisions of the franchise, or grantee’s proposal which has been incorporated by reference into this franchise, are in any way modified by this provision. Only those rights which are expressly granted herein are deemed to be granted.

(B) The grantee may make a charge to subscribers for installation or connection to its CATV system and a fixed monthly charge under provisions established by the Council expressed by resolution.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980; Ord. 2519, passed - -1984)

(A) This franchise is for a term of 20 years from the effective date of the ordinance transferring the franchise from Theta Cable of California, Inc., to the Teleprompter Corporation, but shall terminate if, as and when, and to the extent that, the city acquires the CATV system property of the grantee installed in the city.

(B) The city may terminate any franchise granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter in the event of the willful failure or refusal by grantee to do or comply with any material requirement or limitation contained in this chapter, or any material rule or regulation of the Council or City Manager validly adopted pursuant to this chapter.

(C) The City Manager may make written demand that the grantee do, or comply with, any such requirement, limitation, term, condition, rule or regulation. If the failure, refusal or neglect of the grantee continues for a period of 30 days following such written demand, the City Manager may place his or her request for termination of the franchise upon the Council meeting agenda. The City Manager shall cause to be served upon such grantee, at least ten days prior to the date of such Council meeting, a written notice of his or her intent to request such termination and the time and place of the meeting.

(D) The Council shall consider the request of the City Manager, and shall hear any persons interested therein, and shall determine whether or not any failure, refusal or neglect by the grantee was with just cause.

(E) If such failure, refusal or neglect by the grantee was with just cause, the Council shall direct the grantee to comply within such time and manner and upon such terms and conditions as are reasonable.

(F) If the Council determines such failure, refusal or neglect by the grantee was without just cause, then the Council may pass its resolution declaring that the franchise of the grantee shall be terminated and forfeited unless there is compliance by the grantee within such period as the Council may fix.

(G) The termination and forfeiture of any franchise shall in no way affect any of the rights of the city under the franchise or any provision of law.

(H) In the event of any holding over after the expiration or other termination of any franchise granted hereunder, without the prior consent of the city, expressed by resolution, the grantee shall pay to the city reasonable compensation and damages, of not less than 50% of its total gross revenue during said period.

(I) Any and all minimum standards governing the operation of the grantee and any and all maximum rates, ratios and charges specified herein or in any franchise issued hereunder, existing now and at any time in the future, and any and all rights, powers, privileges and authorities of the city to determine, establish or fix any of the same, are each and all hereby declared by the city and by any grantee accepting any franchise hereunder to be contractual in nature and to be for the benefit of the city and all subscribers situated herein.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

The grantee shall pay annually to the city, by delivery to the Director of Administrative Services, until this franchise is terminated, a sum equal to 5% of the gross annual receipts of the grantee. If, during any part of the franchise term, there is in effect a federal or state limit regulating the franchise fee percentage to a lesser amount, such a limitation shall apply, but only for that period such limit is legally operational. Franchise payments required hereunder shall be in lieu of any business license, occupation tax or similar levy.

(A) The grantee shall file with the city, by delivering to its Director of Administrative Services, within 90 days after the end of each calendar year until this franchise is terminated and within 30 days after such termination, a financial statement certified by a certified public accountant, or person otherwise satisfactory to the City Manager, showing in detail the gross annual receipts, as defined in § 3.14.010, of grantee during the preceding calendar year or portion thereof until such termination. Within 15 days after the time for filing such statements, the sum hereinabove prescribed or any unpaid balance thereof for such calendar year or for such portion thereof, as shown by such statements, shall be so paid to the city.

(B) The city shall have the right to inspect and audit the grantee’s fiscal records. If any independent audit of the grantee’s records directed by the city shows a franchise fee error in excess of 2% in the city’s favor, the grantee shall assume all reasonable costs for said audit. No acceptance of any payment shall be construed as a release or as an accord and satisfaction of any claim the city may have for further additional sums payable under this section or for the performance of any other obligation hereunder. Any refusal of the grantee to file said verified statement, or to pay said percentage in full, at the time or in the manner hereinbefore provided, which refusal shall continue for more than 15 days following notice thereof to the grantee from the city shall be grounds for the termination of this franchise as provided for in § 3.14.050.

(C) For any full calendar year for which said payments equal to 5% of the gross receipts amount to less than $1,200, the grantee shall so pay to the city for such year an additional amount equal to the difference between the total of such payments and the sum of $1,200. For any part of a calendar year for which period such payments amount to a total sum less than $100 multiplied by the number of months, measured from a beginning date in one calendar month to the same date in the next calendar month, and for any fraction of such a month, at the rate of one-thirtieth of $100 per day, in such period, the grantee shall so pay to the city for such period an additional amount equal to the difference between the total of such payments and the minimum rate of $100 per month.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) The franchise granted by this chapter is nonexclusive.

(B) No privilege or exemption is granted or conferred by this franchise except those specifically prescribed herein.

(C) Any privilege claimed under this franchise by the grantee in any street or other public property shall be subordinate to any prior lawful occupancy of the streets or other public property.

(D) This franchise is a privilege to be held in personal trust by the grantee and by any assignee thereof. It cannot in any event be sold, transferred, leased, assigned or disposed of, in whole or in part, either by forced or involuntary sale, or by voluntary sale, merger, consolidation or otherwise, without the prior consent of the Council expressed by resolution, and then only under such conditions as may be therein prescribed. Any such transfer or assignment shall be made only by an instrument in writing, a duly executed copy of which shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk within 30 days after any such transfer or assignment. The consent of the Council may not be arbitrarily refused; provided, however, that the proposed assignee must show financial responsibility and must file with the City Clerk its acceptance of the assignment and its agreement to assume, perform and to be bound by, and to comply with, all of the provisions of this franchise; and provided further, that no such consent shall be required for a transfer in trust, mortgage or other hypothecation as a whole, to secure an indebtedness, but shall be required before any assignment is made in compliance with any authority under any such security transaction.

(E) Time is of the essence of this franchise. The grantee shall not be relieved of its obligation to comply promptly with any of the provisions of the franchise or by any failure of the city to enforce prompt compliance therewith.

(F) Any right or power given to, and any duty impressed upon, any officer, employee, department or board of the city shall be subject to transfer by the Council to any other officer, employee, department or board of the city.

(G) Except for the city’s gross negligence or intentional misconduct, the grantee shall have no recourse whatsoever against the city for any loss, cost, expense or damage arising out of any provision or requirement of this franchise or because of its enforcement.

(H) Except as limited by the state and federal law, the grantee shall be subject to all requirements of city ordinances, rules, regulations and specifications heretofore or hereafter enacted or established, provided that any such requirements are not inconsistent with the terms of this chapter.

(I) This franchise does not relieve the grantee of any obligation involved in obtaining pole space from any department of the city, from any utility company or from others maintaining poles in streets.

(J) This franchise is granted in lieu of, and the grantee waives, any and all other rights, privileges, powers, immunities and authorities owned, possessed, controlled or exercisable by the grantee, for itself and for any success or to any interest of the grantee hereunder, of or pertaining to the construction, operation or maintenance of any CATV system in the city and the acceptance of this franchise shall operate, as between the grantee and the city, as an abandonment to the city of any and all of such rights, privileges, powers, immunities and authorities within the city, to the effect that, as between the grantee, and the city, any and all construction, operation and maintenance by the grantee of any CATV system in the city shall be, and shall be deemed and construed in all instances and respects to be, under and pursuant to this franchise, and not under or pursuant to any other right, privilege, power, immunity or authority whatsoever.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) (1) In the event the city wishes to acquire part or all of the cable system either by purchase or through the exercise of the right of eminent domain, city and grantee will each appoint one appraiser to establish the value of the system to be acquired by the city. The two appraisers will select a third appraiser who will be chairman of the appraisal board. The board will, by majority vote, determine the value of the system to be acquired by the city. This value will be final and binding on both the city and grantee and will be used as the purchase price of just compensation in an eminent domain proceeding between the city and grantee.

(2) In the event of purchase by the city, or a change of grantee, the current grantee shall cooperate with the city, or with a representative appointed by the city to operate the system for a temporary period in maintaining continuity of service to all subscribers.

(B) There is reserved to the city every right and power which is required to be herein reserved or provided by any ordinance of the city, and the grantee, by its acceptance of this franchise, agrees to be bound thereby and to comply with any action or requirement of the city in its exercise of such rights or power, heretofore or hereafter enacted or established; provided, that any such requirements are not inconsistent with the terms of this chapter.

(C) Neither the granting of the franchise hereunder nor any of the provisions contained herein shall be construed to prevent the city from granting any identical or similar franchise to any other person, firm or corporation, within all or any portion of the city.

(D) (1) The city may amend this franchise, upon application of the grantee, when necessary to enable the grantee to take advantage of any developments in the field of transmission of communication signals which will afford it an opportunity more effectively, efficiently or economically to serve its customer; provided, however, that this section shall not be construed to require the city to make any amendment.

(2) The grantee agrees to incorporate, as a part of the cable system installed, historically proven advances in equipment and services at the first reasonable opportunity; provided, that it is economically feasible and otherwise agreed upon. Such equipment and service shall include, but not be limited to, two-way access available to all subscribers, equipment to facilitate such two-way services at both head end and subscriber terminals, availability of national or international transmission via communications satellites, application of fiber optic technology and other such advances. Such equipment and services shall be incorporated in the city’s cable system without regard to the company, corporation or other agency involved in its development.

(E) Neither the granting of this franchise nor any provision hereof shall constitute a waiver or bar to the exercise of any governmental right or power of the city.

(F) The Council may do all things which are necessary and convenient in the exercise of its jurisdiction, and may determine any question of fact which may arise by reason of the existence of this franchise. The City Manager is authorized and empowered to adjust, settle or compromise any controversy or charge arising from the operations of the grantee under this franchise, either on behalf of the city, the grantee or any subscriber, in the best interest of the public. Either the grantee or any member of the public who may be dissatisfied with any decision of the City Manager may appeal the matter to the Council for hearing and determination. The Council may accept, reject or modify the decision of the City Manager, and the Council may adjust, settle or compromise any controversy or cancel any charge arising from the operations of the grantee.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) The grantee does agree as stated in its proposal to commence construction of its cable communication system within 90 days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter and will diligently proceed with all construction thereunder shown so as to cause the five construction areas to be completed and service available to subscribers, in accordance with the following schedule.

(B) The five construction areas are those areas designated on the map contained in the grantee’s proposal. The grantee will certify, in a written report to the city, the actual completion dates of each such area.

(C) The Council may, in its discretion, extend the time for completion of construction in the event the grantee, acting in good faith, experiences delays by reason of circumstances beyond its control, including failure of utility companies to provide pole clearances and permits in a timely manner.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) Any poles, wires, cable wires, conduits or other properties of the grantee to be constructed or installed in streets shall be so constructed or installed only at such locations and in such manner as shall be approved by the Director of Public Works, acting in the exercise of his or her reasonable discretion.

(B) The grantee shall not install or erect any facilities or apparatus in or on other public property, places or rights-of-way or within any privately owned area within the city which has not yet become a public street but is designated or delineated as a proposed public street on any tentative subdivision map approved by the city, except those installed or erected upon public utility facilities now existing, without obtaining the prior written approval of the Director of Public Works.

(C) In those areas and portions of the city where the transmission of distribution facilities of both the public utility providing telephone service and those of the utility providing electric service are underground or hereafter may be placed underground, then the grantee shall likewise construct, operate and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground. For the purpose of this division (C), UNDERGROUND shall include a partial underground system, e.g., streamlining. Amplifiers in the grantee’s transmission and distribution lines may be in appropriate housing upon the surface of the ground as approved by the Director of Public Works.

(D) The grantee’s CATV antennas, earth receiving stations and other head end facilities and appurtenances may be located on city-owned property at the Hubert C. Ferry Reservoir (Acacia Reservoir) site. Use of a reasonable portion of said site for these facilities will be provided to the grantee during the term of this franchise at no cost. The grantee’s use of the reservoir site shall not unreasonably interfere with this site’s primary use as a water storage and distribution facility. All such CATV installations at this site shall be constructed in accordance with applicable codes and ordinances, and the exact location and configuration of all facilities shall be subject to the approval of the city’s Director of Public Works. Subject to technical and other reasonable limitations, the grantee shall install city and other public agency equipment on the grantee’s tower.

(E) The grantee shall bury its underground CATV cable not less than 18 inches from the surface. Exceptions must be requested from and approved by the Director of Public Works.

(F) The grantee shall give at least two days’ notice on cable burial and shall relocate, alter or otherwise conform to the needs of the city when the city’s underground service facilities are involved.

(G) Where the system is to be underground, crossings of arterial highways as shown on the city’s circulation element shall not be open-trenched, unless specific approval is given by the Director of Public Works.

(H) The grantee shall use boring techniques in lieu of transverse cuts for crossing streets underground. Exceptions may be authorized by the Director of Public Works when conditions such as street contours, utilities or other factors make boring techniques difficult or impractical.

(I) The grantee shall conform to all relevant provisions of law of the federal and state government and the city.

(J) The city hereby offers to sell and grantee hereby offers to buy the two master antenna television (MATV) systems owned by the city for the sum of $1 and other valuable consideration for each system, to be paid to the city within 30 days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. Upon payment, the city will present grantee with a bill of sale, conveying all rights, title and interest, free and clear of any and all liens, charges and encumbrances, in the MATV systems to grantee, which shall include all cables, conduits, equipment, antennas and other appurtenances within said systems. Said systems are described as the Broadmoor system, within Tracts No. 7701 and 8664, and the city’s creek system, within Tract No. 8526. Upon transfer of title, grantee shall thereafter be responsible for all maintenance, upkeep and operation of said MATV systems.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) In the event that the use of any part of the CATV system is discontinued for any reason for a continuous period of 12 months, or in the event such system or property has been installed in any street or public place without complying with the requirements of this franchise, or this franchise has been terminated, canceled or has expired, the grantee shall promptly, upon being given 15 days’ notice, remove from the streets or public places all such property and poles of such system other than any which the Director of Public Works may permit or require to be abandoned in place to the city. In the event of such removal, the grantee shall promptly restore the street or other area from which such property has been removed to a condition satisfactory to the Director of Public Works.

(B) Any property of the grantee remaining in place 30 days after the termination or expiration of this franchise shall be considered permanently abandoned to the city. The City Manager may extend such time not to exceed an additional 30 days.

(C) Any property of the grantee to be abandoned in place shall be abandoned to the city in such manner as the Director of Public Works shall prescribe. Upon permanent abandonment of the property of the grantee in place, the property shall become that of the city, and the grantee shall submit to the Director an instrument in writing, to be approved by the City Attorney, transferring to the city the ownership of such property.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

The grantee shall, at its expense, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate in the same street or public place, or remove from the street or other public place, any property of the grantee when required by the Director of Public Works by reason of traffic conditions, public safety, street vacation, freeway and street construction, change or establishment of street grade, installation of sewers, drains, water pipes, power lines, signal lines and tracks or any other type of structures or improvements by public agencies; provided, however, that the grantee shall in all such cases have the privileges and be subject to the obligations to abandon any property of the grantee in place.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

Upon failure of the grantee to commence, pursue or complete any work required by law or by this franchise to be done in any street or other public place, within the time prescribed and to the reasonable satisfaction of the Director of Public Works, the Director may at his or her option cause such work to be done, and the grantee shall pay to the city the reasonable cost thereof in the itemized amounts reported by the Director to the grantee within 30 days after receipt of such itemized report.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) The grantee shall, concurrently with the filing of its acceptance of this franchise, file with the City Clerk, and at all times thereafter maintain in full force and effect for the term of this franchise, or any renewal thereof, at the grantee’s sole expense, a corporate surety bond in a company and in a form approved by the City Attorney, in the amount of $100,000, and conditioned upon the faithful performance of the obligations imposed upon the grantee by this franchise, and upon the further condition that in the event grantee fails to comply with any of the provisions of this franchise, there shall be recoverable jointly and severally from the principal and surety of such bond any damages or loss suffered by the city as a result thereof, including the full amount of any compensation, indemnification or cost of removal or abandonment of any property of the grantee as prescribed hereby, which may be in default, plus a reasonable allowance for attorneys’ fees and costs, up to the full amount of the bond; said conditions to be continuing obligations for the duration of this franchise and any renewal thereof and thereafter until the grantee has liquidated all of its obligations with the city that may have arisen from the acceptance of this franchise or renewal by the grantee or from its exercise of any privilege herein granted. The bond shall provide that 30 days’ prior written notice of any intention to cancel or to make any material change, or not to renew, be given to the city.

(B) Neither the provisions of this section, nor any bond accepted by the city pursuant hereto, nor any damages recovered by the city thereunder, shall be construed to excuse said faithful performance by the grantee or limit the liability of the grantee under this franchise or for damages, either to the full amount of the bond or otherwise.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) The grantee shall, concurrently with the filing of its acceptance of this franchise, furnish to the city and file with the City Clerk, and at all times during the existence of this franchise, maintain in full force and effect, at its own cost and expense, a liability insurance policy in the minimum amount of $1,000,000, in a company approved by the City Manager and in a form satisfactory to the City Attorney, indemnifying and saving harmless the city, its officers and employees from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, suits and proceedings by others, against all liability to others, except as a result of an intentional act or gross negligence on the part of the city, its officers and employees, including, but not limited to, any liability for damages by reason of or arising out of any failure by the grantee to secure consents from the owners, authorized distributors or licensors of programs to be delivered by the grantee’s CATV system, and against any loss, cost, expense and damage resulting therefrom, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of the exercise or enjoyment of its franchise, irrespective of the amount of the comprehensive liability insurance policy required hereunder. The grantee shall control any and all litigation and any adjustment, settlement or compromise thereof resulting from such claims, demands, actions, suits and proceedings. Approval of the company by the City Manager referred to above shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(B) The grantee shall, concurrently with the filing of its acceptance of this franchise, furnish to the city and file with the City Clerk, and at all times during the existence of this franchise, maintain in full force and effect, at its own cost and expense, a general comprehensive liability insurance policy, in protection of the city, its officers, boards, commissions, agents and employees, in a company approved by the City Manager and a form satisfactory to the City Attorney, protecting the city and all persons against liability for loss of damage for personal injury, death and property damage, occasioned by the operations of grantee under this franchise, with minimum liability limits of $500,000 for personal injury or death of any one person and $1,000,000 for personal injury or death of two or more persons in any one occurrence, and $100,000 for damage to property resulting from any one occurrence.

(C) The grantee shall provide the city with evidence of insurance which shall contain an endorsement naming the city as additional insured and that such endorsement shall be primary to city’s coverage. The certificate of evidence of insurance must contain the statement that the City Clerk shall be given at least 30 days’ prior notice in the event of cancellation or substantial alteration of coverage. The endorsement as outlined above shall be received prior to commencement of grantee’s activity.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) At all reasonable times, the grantee shall permit any duly authorized representative of the city to examine all property of the grantee, together with any appurtenant property used in connection with the city’s cable system of the grantee situated within or without the city, and to examine and transcribe any and all maps and other records kept or maintained by the grantee or under its control which deal with the operations, affairs, transactions or property of the grantee with respect to this franchise. If any such maps or records are not kept in the city, or upon reasonable request made available in the city, and if the Council determines that an examination thereof is necessary or appropriate, then all travel and maintenance expense of the city necessarily incurred in making such examination shall be paid by the grantee to the city.

(B) The grantee shall prepare and furnish to the Director of Public Works and the Director of Administrative Services at the times reasonably requested and in the form prescribed by either of said officers, such reports with respect to its operations, affairs, transactions or property, as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to the performance of any of the rights, functions or duties of the city or any of its officers in connection with this franchise. Such reports shall include a daily log of service requests, customer complaints, customer suggestions and the service grantee’s response thereto, including the type, manner and time of response.

(C) The grantee shall have at all times up-to-date route maps of suitable scale showing all transmitting and receiving pickup locations and the location of all amplifiers and trunk and distribution lines. Lines to individual home and business outlets within the public right-of-way shall be shown. Maps shall be annotated so that a failure or malfunction in the transmission lines and assorted equipment can be evaluated in terms of service area receiving less than full service. The scale of the maps shall be sufficient to clearly show details to include horizontal and vertical dimensions and in no event less than one inch equals 100 feet. The Grantee shall provide city current copies of said maps. At the beginning of construction and every six months thereafter, grantee shall indicate to the city its plans for installation and engineering during the next six months.

(D) The grantee shall at all times maintain at its local office for public inspection a file containing copies of all reports required by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rules and Regulations, Part 76, Subpart H (General Operating Requirements) as the same now exist or may hereafter be changed or amended.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

The CATV system shall be designed, installed, maintained and tested in accordance with best CATV industry practice and as a minimum shall conform with the technical performance standards contained herein. In addition, should the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or other state or federal authority having jurisdiction impose CATV system technical performance standards either outside the scope of the technical performance standards contained herein, or requiring a higher level of CATV system performance, those standards are hereby incorporated herein by reference. If for any reason, the referenced FCC or other technical standards shall become reduced in the regional scope or service level, the more stringent standards herein shall remain in effect.

(A) Performance of the CATV system as measured at any subscriber terminal with matched 75 ohm termination shall be as follows.

(1) The frequency boundaries of cable television channels delivered to subscriber terminals shall conform to those set forth in FCC 73.603(a) or subsequent FCC standard.

(2) If no frequency converter is supplied to the subscriber, the visual carrier frequency shall be maintained 1.25 MHZ +/-25 kHz above the lower frequency boundary of the cable television channel. If a frequency converter is supplied to the subscriber by the cable television system, the following requirement shall be applied at the interface between the converter and the subscriber’s terminal equipment: when the visual carrier at the output of the converter has been tuned to a frequency 1.25 MHZ above the lower frequency boundary of a cable television channel with the converter stabilized at an ambient temperature between 20°C and 25°C the frequency of the visual carrier shall not vary more than +/-250 kHz for a period of at least three hours, during which period the ambient temperature may vary +/-5 degrees centigrade about the initial ambient temperature.

(3) The aural center frequency of the aural carrier shall be 4.5 MHZ +/-1 kHz above the frequency of the visual carrier.

(4) The visual signal level across a 75 ohm terminating impedance as viewed from subscriber terminals shall not be less than 1,500 microvolts (+3.5 dBmV) at the first subscriber’s outlet in a structure.

(5) The visual signal level on each channel shall be maintained within:

(a) Three decibels of the visual signal level of any visual carrier within six MHZ nominal frequency separation;

(b) Twelve decibels of the visual signal level on any other channel;

(c) A maximum level such that signal level degradation due to overload in the subscriber’s receiver does not occur; and

(d) Twelve decibels over any 24-hour period.

(6) The RMS voltage of the aural signal shall be maintained between 13 and 17 decibels below the associated visual signal level.

(7) The peak-to-peak variation in visual signal level caused by undesired low frequency disturbances (hum or repetitive transients) generated within the system, or by inadequate low frequency response, shall not exceed 5% of the visual signal level.

(8) The amplitude characteristic shall be within a range of +/-2 decibels from 0.75 MHZ to 5.0 MHZ above the lower boundary frequency of the cable television channel, referenced to the average of the highest and lowest amplitudes within these frequency boundaries.

(9) The ratio of visual signal level to system noise shall be not less than 42 decibels.

(10) The ratio of visual signal level to any undesired cochannel television signal operating on proper offset assignments shall be not less than 36 decibels.

(11) The ratio of visual signal level to the RMS amplitude of any coherent disturbances such as intermodulation products or discrete-frequency interfering signals not operating on proper offset assignments shall not be less than 46 decibels.

(12) The terminal isolation provided each subscriber shall be not less than 18 decibels, but in any event, shall be sufficient to prevent reflections caused by open circuited or short circuited subscriber terminals from producing visible picture impairments at any other subscriber terminal.

(13) As an exception to the general provision requiring measurements to be made at subscriber terminals, and without regard to the class of cable television channel involved, radiation from a cable television shall be measured in accordance with procedures outlined in FCC regulations, and shall be limited as follows.

(14) The CATV system shall be rated for continuous 24-hour per day operation.

(15) The FM signal level across a 75 ohm terminating impedance as viewed from subscribers terminals shall be not less than 100 microvolts (-20 dBmV) nor greater than the highest permitted channel 6 aural signal level.

(16) The FM signal level on each channel shall be maintained within:

(a) Three decibels of the FM signal level of any FM signal on an adjacent (200 kHz spacing) channel; and

(b) Six decibels of the FM signal level of any other FM signal carried on the system.

(17) The CATV system shall, as a minimum, be operational in full compliance with the applicable specifications contained herein, over the radio frequency spectrum from 50 to 300 MHZ, inclusive. Further, the system shall be designed such that 32-channel operation is possible from the outset utilizing the 50 to 300 MHZ spectrum.

(18) The CATV system shall, as a minimum, be capable of operating in full compliance with the applicable specifications herein, a return signal capacity in all portions of the system, over the frequency range of five to 30 MHZ inclusive.

(19) The grantee shall, at all times during the term of franchise, properly install and maintain adequate shielding, filtering and grounding at affected installations within the CATV system to eliminate system interference from local radio/television broadcast stations, commercial, government and aeronautical radio stations and/or from fundamental frequency overload by radio amateur or citizen’s radio service transmissions which are in compliance with Federal Communications Commission regulations.

(B) Nonbroadcast signals carried on the CATV system shall meet the following baseband requirements. The RF modulated signals associated with these baseband signals shall meet all requirements of division (A) above.

(1) Overall baseband system video frequency response shall be +2 decibels over a DC to 4.2 MHZ bandwidth.

(2) Baseband video tilt shall not exceed 2% as measured at the vertical or horizontal rate.

(3) Overall baseband system video signal-to-noise ratio shall be not less than 42 decibels over a DC to 4.2 MHZ bandwidth.

(4) Video synchronizing wave form shall comply with the following applicable standard (latest edition or its equivalent):

(a) Two to one interlace monochrome: EIA RS-330;

(b) Fill interlace monochrome: EIA RS-170; and

(c) Color: FCC 73.699 Figure 6.

(5) Where applicable, minimum television camera (live and film) performance shall be:

(a) Resolution (luminance): 350-line center (vertical); 500-line center, 400-line corners (horizontal).

(b) Scan linearity: 2% maximum error (horizontal and vertical).

(c) Registration (color only): 0.2% in centered circle of 0.8 picture height; 0.4% overall.

(d) Video tilt 2% maximum (horizontal rate).

(6) Overall audio system frequency response shall be +3 decibels over the frequency range 50 to 10,000 Hz.

(7) Overall audio system signal-to-noise ratio shall be not less than 50 decibels over the frequency range 50 to 10,000 Hz.

(8) Overall audio system harmonic distortion shall not exceed 2% at any frequency from 50 to 10,000 Hz.

(C) Any local origination studio provided by the grantee shall meet the following minimum requirements:

(1) Six hundred square feet (net) space minimum;

(2) Twelve-foot ceiling height minimum;

(3) Three thousand two hundred degree K tungsten halogen professional TV production lighting system (200 foot-candles minimum capability);

(4) Acoustical noise level under normal studio operating conditions not to exceed NC 25; and

(5) Minimum complement of production equipment to include the following or approved equivalent:

(a) Two studio cameras;

(b) At least two color video tape recorders with insert/assemble editor and capstan servo;

(c) At least one digital video time base corrector for use with the color video tape recorders during both editing and on-cable playback;

(d) Video production switching capability with special effects;

(e) Video picture and waveform monitoring equipment; and

(f) Audio mixing and monitoring capability.

(D) On the last regular working day of each of the first three operating quarters of each year, the grantee shall submit to the City Manager system performance data taken within the previous seven days. Measurements for said data shall be taken at the same test points selected to satisfy division (E) below during the last annual system performance test that data has been submitted to the city. Quarterly test data shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Visual signal level for all channels carried;

(2) Visual signal-to-noise measurements on one active lowband and one active highband VHF channel; and

(3) Visual hum modulation on one channel or pilot carrier. Quarterly tests shall be performed on a scheduled basis. A representative of the city shall be permitted to accompany the grantee during quarterly measurements activities. The grantee shall not be permitted to make any system adjustments during quarterly measurement activities without noting such adjustments on the test data form.

(E) The grantee shall, during the last month of the fourth operating quarter of each year perform annual CATV system performance tests.

(1) Such tests shall be in full compliance with FCC regulations.

(2) Such tests shall be independently witnessed and the resultant data analyzed by a representative of the city if directed by the City Manager.

(3) All necessary test instrumentation shall be supplied by the grantee. A current certificate of calibration by an independent calibration laboratory shall be supplied for each test instrument. All costs for instrumentation and calibration shall be borne by the grantee.

(4) (a) Measurement locations for system compliance with division (A) above, except those requirements regarding 24-hour visual signal amplitude and channel amplitude characteristics, shall include:

1. End of each system major trunk; and

2. End of each system trunk branch four or more trunk amplifiers deep.

(b) Actual test locations shall be selected to measure performance of the system in the franchise area and shall be (or as closely as possible simulate) actual subscriber locations.

(5) Measurements regarding 24-hour visual signal level and channel amplitude characteristic shall be made as required by the FCC.

(6) Measurement for system compliance with division (B) above shall be made where practical on all origination equipment employed in the system.

(7) Measurement techniques shall be either: those suggested by the FCC; or those mutually developed by the grantee and the city and agreed to in writing prior to system testing. If agreement cannot be reached, the city shall prescribe reasonable and acceptable methods of measurement.

(8) Concurrent with annual performance tests, the city representative may, but is not required to, inspect all system head end facilities, and outside plant for adherence to best industry installation, workmanship and safety practice.

(F) (1) The grantee shall maintain the system so it consistently operates within the substantial compliance of the technical standards herein; substantial compliance being defined as 80% of the channels received shall meet all applicable technical standards simultaneously at the time of measurement.

(2) If the proof of performance tests shows that the cable television system is below the performance standards outlined above or in the grantee’s proposal, or elsewhere in this chapter, the city shall give notice thereof to the grantee and the grantee shall have 30 days to correct the deficiency. If the grantee fails to correct the deficiency within this time, the city shall employ, at grantee’s costs, independent engineers or consultants to demonstrate the appropriate correction to the grantee. The grantee shall then have 60 days or other approved reasonable time required, to correct deficiency. If deficiency still has not been corrected, the city shall have the option to terminate this franchise subject to the city’s rights, requirements and restrictions regarding the termination of this franchise stated elsewhere within.

(G) The standards for rendering of any single service or CATV services as a whole, whether said service(s) are provided to an individual subscriber and/or to all subscribers of the system as a whole, shall be as follows.

(1) The service shall operate in an efficient technical manner.

(2) Downtime or unavailability of the service due to factors correctable by grantee shall not exceed 2% of the total hours of service is scheduled to be available in any week.

(3) Errors in the operation of the service shall not exceed 1% of the total usages of the service by subscriber(s) in any week, not including errors caused by subscriber(s) or user or by agencies or individuals not under control of the grantee.

(4) Visual and audio quality of television signals delivered by a service shall not be less than the quality of other television signals delivered to other subscribers as part of any service provided by grantee.

(5) Repairs to or replacement of grantee’s equipment involved in a service shall be made within 24 hours of subscriber’s notification to grantee of equipment malfunction except where said repairs or replacements are barred by acts of God or other unforeseen circumstances beyond grantee’s control. Any periods during which the grantee is refused or is unable to obtain access to subscriber premises shall be added to the 24-hour limitation.

(6) The grantee shall instruct subscribers carefully and in detail in the use of the service. The grantee shall be obligated to provide no more than four repetitions of such instruction.

(7) The grantee shall furnish to subscribers a written description of the service which shall set forth its name, describe what it provides to the subscriber and what the subscriber must do to operate the service, and set forth a schedule of times when the service is available if it is not continuously available.

(8) The service shall, in fact, operate in the manner and provide the materials or capacities described by the grantee in all writings and/or verbal or other presentations in reference to the service.

(9) There shall be no appreciable visual degradation of video or audio on any channel, as compared with any other channel or with the video or audio of a standard television or radio receiver with good quality standard dipole antenna placed within five miles line of sight, without obstructions, of the VHF broadcast antennas carried on the Mt. Wilson transmitting tower in Los Angeles.

(10) The grantee shall make a demonstration, at any of the six longest distributions paths in the system, or at the site at which performance standards are alleged not to be met, that the performance standards in divisions (G)(1) and (G)(2) above are being met.

(11) Such demonstrations shall be made by grantee upon demand of the grantor at grantee’s expense.

(12) (a) Notice of planned or anticipated interruptions of service shall be preceded by announcements of the period and location of the interruption, as well as its duration, on a two hourly frequency of the system’s automated program log channels for at least 48 hours prior to the interruption, if the duration of the interruption is to be less than six hours.

(b) For planned or anticipated interruptions of six to 24 hours, the announcements shall be provided on the same two hourly frequency for at least 72 hours prior to the interruption.

(c) For planned or anticipated interruptions of more than 24 hours, the grantee shall provide written notice of the interruption and its length by mail to all affected subscribers or users at least five days prior to the interruption.

(d) Written notices shall inform subscribers that because of the length of the interruption they are eligible to receive, if they so notify grantee, billing credit for any period exceeding 24 hours in a one-month period during which service will not be delivered.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980; Ord. 2476, passed - -1983; Ord. 2610, passed - -1987)

The grantee shall assume and bear all the following costs associated with granting this franchise ordinance, verification of the operational standards set forth herein, and the installation, construction and operation of the CATV system:

(A) Costs of publication of this franchise ordinance and any future changes thereto, as such publication is required by law;

(B) Costs associated with the city in employing an independent consultant to assist with development of the franchise ordinance, proposals and any negotiations required to grant this franchise ordinance;

(C) The research study authorized by City Council pursuant to the granting of the franchise ordinance;

(D) Costs of an independent engineering firm or consultant to review the design, installation and initial proof of performance testing of the system as a verification of the grantee’s adherence to the terms and conditions of this franchise ordinance;

(E) All fees related to construction of the CATV facilities, including, but not limited to, city excavation permit fees, construction inspection fees and other city costs related to CATV installation and construction; and

(F) The city’s cost of advertising and noticing for any public hearings related to rate increases.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) When not otherwise prescribed herein, all matters herein required to be filed with the city shall be filed with the City Clerk.

(B) The grantee shall: operate the cable system authorized by this chapter 24 hours per day, seven days per week; and maintain an office in the service area, which office shall open during all the usual business hours, have a local telephone number listed in the directories of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company for the city’s extended areas, and be so operated that complaints and requests for repairs or adjustment may be received at any time day or night, seven days a week.

(C) No person, firm or corporation in the existing service area of the grantee shall be arbitrarily refused service; provided, however, that the grantee shall not be required to provide service to any subscriber who does not pay the applicable connection fee or monthly service charge hereby authorized.

(D) The grantee shall provide at its expense a closed circuit television capability to include installation of two remote cameras at the Basque Yard. Controls and one receiver will be provided at Police Department headquarters. Maintenance, modification and extension of this system, if required by the city to be performed by the grantee, shall be on a cost reimbursement basis.

(E) The grantee shall maintain, or make available, in the city a studio or studios available for use by the city and its permittees on reasonable notice as referenced in grantee’s proposal.

(F) The grantee shall provide one subscriber connection to the following facilities without cost and, as designated by the Council, when the system passes within 500 feet of the lot line or boundary of any of the following facilities:

(1) Public schools and community colleges within the city; and

(2) Buildings owned and controlled by the city used for public purposes and not for residential use (fire and police stations included).

(G) As a minimum, the cable television system permitted to be installed and operated hereunder shall:

(1) Be operationally capable of relaying to all subscribers’ terminals those television and radio broadcast signals for the carriage of which the grantee is hereafter authorized by the Federal Communications Commission if such authorization is required;

(2) Be constructed with the capacity for two-way, nonvoice return communication;

(3) Have a minimum capacity of 40 television channels and 20 FM channels to all subscribers expressly providing to all subscribers any required converters, cable selection switch(es) or other devices required for the subscriber to receive all carried standard channels;

(4) Provide at least one channel without charge for use as a public access channel. As a minimum, the public access channel capabilities shall include a timebase corrected videotape playback capability (three-fourths’ inch U cassette or other approved format);

(5) (a) Provide a public information channel for utilization by the city or a city-appointed designee; and

(b) This channel shall employ a colorized alphanumeric character generator with local display to be located at the direction of the city. The public information channel shall be programmed by the city.

(6) Upon direction of the Council, provide at least four channels without charge for local government and educational access.

(H) The grantee shall not engage in the business of selling at retail, leasing, renting, repairing or servicing television sets or radios nor engage in the sale of parts for such equipment.

(I) (1) When requested, the grantee shall receive and distribute signals from and to head end of other third-party communication service operators who are authorized by the city to offer such services within the city.

(2) Signal carriage shall be provided on cable system access channels by the grantee at uniform rates approved by the city. Equipment and installation required to bring the signals to and from the cable system head end and to condition such signals for application to the cable system shall be provided by the (third-party) communication service operator.

(J) (1) The grantee shall make all reasonable efforts to electrically interconnect the city’s CATV system with CATV systems in adjacent communities for the purposes of sharing locally originated public and educational programming. Such an interconnect shall be effected by coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, microwave or other bidirectional signal transportation means as appropriate to permit programming interchange in compliance with the technical provisions of the city’s CATV franchise ordinance. Within the two years of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, the grantee shall contact all franchised operators in the communities immediately adjacent to the city for the purposes of exploring and securing a mutually acceptable system interconnect agreement and report the results of said activity to the City Manager or other designated city representative. The report shall state each contacted operator’s name, city and response, list all programming activity available to the city’s residents via such an interconnect agreement as well as list programming to similarly be transmitted from the city to the adjacent community and explain the substance of the governing business agreement reached with the other operators.

(2) If an adjacent operator(s) is not responsive to the grantee’s inquiry, a letter report, stating that all reasonable attempts to gain an interconnect agreement were made but unsuccessfully, shall similarly be filed with the city.

(3) In the case of adjacent new CATV systems constructed in adjacent communities after the city’s system, the grantee shall have a period of six months after the new system becomes operational to make the required inquiries and attempt at an interconnect agreement.

(K) Regulations for converters/terminals are as follows.

(1) Each device shall be and remain the property of the grantee. The grantee shall be responsible for its maintenance and repair and may replace it, as he or she may from time-to-time elect, except that the subscriber shall be responsible for loss of or damage to any such device while in his or her possession.

(2) Upon termination or cancellation of the subscriber’s service, he or she shall promptly return grantee’s property to grantee in the same condition as received, reasonable wear and tear excepted.

(3) Charges for converter rentals shall cease after 40 continuous months of service.

(4) The grantee’s proposal, dated June 23, 1980, which was adopted on July 8, 1980, and incorporated into the franchise agreement, is amended to delete the following language (P. 21, subsection (4)): “Charges for converter rental will cease after 40 continuous months. In addition, subscribers will have the option of purchasing converters at Teleprompter’s actual cost.”

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980; Ord. 2476, passed - -1983)

(A) When any portion of the grantee’s CATV system is to be installed on public utility poles and facilities, certified copies of the agreements for such joint use of poles and facilities shall be filed with the City Clerk.

(B) Where the system is to be installed overhead on existing utility facilities, no additional poles shall be installed either by the grantee or by the utility for the specific purpose of supporting or extending the CATV system without the approval of the Director of Public Works.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

The service rates and installation and connection charges for CATV system use, as contained in the proposal submitted by grantee, are hereby adopted and approved and may be changed from time-to-time by resolution of the City Council pursuant to this section. All rates and charges contained in said proposal shall remain in effect with no increase for a period of three years from the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. All basic rate and charge increases, defined to include those services and installations which are classified as “basic service” in grantee’s proposal, submitted or proposed by grantee for all services and installations except those programming services for which a separate charge is made, including charges for remote control converters after said three-year period shall be based upon the following criteria which shall be considered and evaluated by the City Council.

(A) The initial rates as hereinabove set may be adjusted after the initial three-year period and at such time thereafter as hereunder specified, based upon the Consumer Price Index (Urban Wage Earners) prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, relating to all items. Services A, for the Los Angeles/Long Beach area (1967 = 100) (Herein the “CPI”) in accordance with the following formula.

(1) For the initial rate increase request, the grantee shall submit to the city a report of the most recent CPI information for the period preceding the report.

(2) For subsequent rate increase requests, the grantee shall submit to the city a report of the most recent CPI information for the period since the effective date of the last previous rate increase.

(3) The number of points of increase or decrease in the CPI for said periods, divided by the index base of 100 shall be used as the total percentage increase in the CPI.

(4) The grantee may request and the city shall thereon grant a rate adjustment in the amounts requested by grantee, provided that:

(a) The amount of such rate adjustment divided by the current subscriber rates shall not exceed 75% of the total percentage increase in the CPI as determined under division (A)(3) above; and

(b) The grantee provides the city with written financial statements showing that the rate adjustment is justified by increased expenses incurred by the grantee in the operation of its CATV system.

(5) Any application by the grantee for a rate increase shall be accompanied and supported by the following information:

(a) Copies of financial reports and income statements certified by a certified public accountant for at least the three preceding years. If the grantee is a subsidiary of another firm, similar financial data shall be furnished for the parent corporation;

(b) An itemization of capital assets, both tangible and intangible, the accounting basis for depreciation and the depreciation schedule. If intangible assets such as goodwill are being amortized, the amortization period shall be stated;

(c) A detailed breakdown of operating, marketing and general and administrative costs by category for each of the three preceding years;

(d) The number of subscribers for basic CATV service and Pay-TV service for each of the three preceding years;

(e) The number of cable plant-miles and dwelling units passed by the cable plant for each of the three preceding years; and

(f) A statement as to any allocation of funds to parent company overhead or operating costs and the basis for such allocation.

(B) (1) Upon receipt of a rate increase request, accompanied by all of the supporting information of division (A) above, it shall be the obligation of the City Council to act upon this request within a period of 90 days from the date upon which all supporting materials has been submitted in adequate form. Prior to taking action on the request at least one noticed public hearing shall be held upon the rate request. The Council shall approve, partially approve or disapprove any increase of rates or charges for additional services on the basis of the following considerations:

(a) Performance of the grantee in abiding by the terms and conditions of this chapter and the proposal;

(b) Whether the grantee has adequately served or serviced the subscribers in the city and the community in general;

(c) Rates for comparable CATV service or services in surrounding communities;

(d) Revenues and profits from services offered;

(e) Operating and construction expenses of the system;

(f) Completeness of the information submitted by grantee in support of the request for increase; and

(g) Other such evidence or testimony as may arise during the public hearing.

(2) The decision by the City Council approving, partially approving or disapproving the request for increase shall not be unreasonably withheld, and such decision shall be in resolution form, which shall contain findings indicating the basis for the decision and any new rates or charges thereby approved and adopted. Any increase in rates or charges thereby approved shall become effective 30 days after the date of approval of the resolution.

(C) In the event a rate increase is granted as requested, the grantee shall refrain from applying for further increases for a period of 24 months from the effective date of the prior increase. If the rate request is denied, or a lesser increase than requested is approved, the grantee shall refrain from applying for further increases for a period of six months from the date of the resolution denying the request or approving the lesser request.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980; Ord. 2476, passed - -1983)

This franchise is renewable at the application of the grantee, in the same manner and upon the same terms and conditions as required for obtaining the original franchise.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

(A) Pursuant to FCC rules, the following procedure shall be adhered to in the event of subscriber complaints or complaints by city residents.

(1) The grantee’s complaint handling procedures shall be designed to accomplish the following:

(a) Receive and acknowledge any complaint made in person or by telephone within 15 minutes, regardless of the time the complaint is made;

(b) Acknowledge any complaint received by mail within three business days of the date such complaint is received;

(c) Complaints not resolved within 24 hours of receipt shall be listed in a log of “Delayed Action on Complaints” which shall give the information in division (A)(3) below and add the detailed reasons for nonresolution within the 24-hour period;

(d) Provide the complainant access to the grantee’s senior management personnel on a basis convenient to the complainant in the event resolution is not immediately obtained by grantee’s personnel normally assigned to handling complaints;

(e) Provide complete information to the complainant regarding his or her ability to take his or her complaint to the grantor’s representative if it is not resolved by the grantee; and

(f) The grantee shall include notices of proposed rate adjustments in its regular billings at least one month prior to the public hearing on the rate request.

(2) The grantee shall establish procedures for receiving, acting upon and resolving subscriber complaints to the reasonable satisfaction of the City Manager. The grantee shall furnish a notice of such procedures to each subscriber at the time of initial subscription to the system.

(3) Maintain a written record, or “log” listing date and time of customer complaints, identifying the subscriber and describing the nature of the complaints and when and what action was taken by the grantee in response thereto; such record shall be kept at grantee’s local office, reflecting the operations to date for a period of at least three years, and shall be available for inspection during regular business hours without further notice or demand by the City Manager.

(4) As subscribers are connected or reconnected to the cable system, the grantee shall, by appropriate means such as a card or brochure, furnish information concerning the procedures for making inquiries or complaints, including the name, address and local telephone number of grantee’s employee or agent to whom such inquiries or complaints are to be addressed and furnish information concerning the city office responsible for administration of the franchise with the address and telephone number of the office.

(5) The grantee shall provide written notice to each subscriber at intervals not to exceed one year of the procedure for reporting and resolving subscriber complaints, including the subscriber’s right to complain in writing to the city of grantee’s failure to resolve a service complaint which is preventable and reasonably with grantee’s control. The proper address of the city and grantee to which complaints may be directed shall be included in said notice.

(6) In the event that a customer complaint is not resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the customer or the grantee, either the customer or the grantee may request that the matter be presented to the City Manager for a hearing and resolution.

(7) In the event that the decision by the City Manager is unsatisfactory to either party, the City Manager may submit the complaint to arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. In such a case, the decision of the arbitrator shall be final. The losing party shall pay all costs associated with the arbitration process, regardless of the findings of the arbitrator.

(B) The following remedies and penalties for inadequate or untimely service to subscribers or system installation delays are hereby established.

(1) In the event that any service(s) to any subscriber is/are interrupted for 24 hours, in any 72-hour period, except for acts of God or other circumstances beyond grantee’s control and outside the system, and except in circumstances for which prior approval of the interruption is obtained from the City Manager, grantee shall provide a 10% rebate of the monthly fees to affected subscribers.

(2) In the event that any service(s) to any subscriber is/are interrupted for 48 or more hours in any seven-day period, except for acts of God or other circumstances beyond grantee’s control and outside the system, and except in circumstances for which the prior approval of the interruption is obtained from the City Manager, grantee shall provide a 20% rebate of the monthly fees to affected subscribers.

(3) In the event that the system fails to meet any performance standards for a full three-month period, grantee may reduce all subscribers fees by 25% until all performance standards are met. The City Manager shall notify the grantee during the first month of the three-month period that the system has failed to meet performance standards.

(4) For failure to commence construction in accordance with § 3.14.090, unless the Council approves the delay because of reasons beyond the control of the grantee, the franchise term shall be reduced four days for each day of delay.

(5) For failure to begin service to subscribers or complete construction and installation of the system as provided for in § 3.14.090, unless the Council approves the delay because of reasons beyond the control of the grantee, the franchise term shall be reduced four days for each day of the delay, and liquidated damages shall be paid at the rate of $500 per day.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980; Ord. 2476, passed - -1983)

(A) This franchise shall not become effective unless and until the ordinance codified in this chapter has become effective and, in addition, unless and until all things required in this chapter are done and completed, all of such things being declared to be conditions precedent to the effectiveness of this franchise. In the event any of such things are not done and completed in the time and manner required, the Council may declare this franchise null and void.

(B) Within 30 days after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, within such extended period of time as the Council in its discretion may authorize, the grantee shall file with the City Clerk its written acceptance in form satisfactory to the City Attorney, of this franchise, together with the bond and insurance policies required herein and its agreement to be bound by, and to comply with, and to do all things required of it by, the provisions of this franchise. Such acceptance and agreement shall be acknowledged by the grantee before a notary public, and shall be in form and content satisfactory to, and approved by, the City Attorney.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

If any section, division, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed the ordinance codified in this chapter and each section, division, sentence, clause and phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, divisions, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared illegal, invalid or unconstitutional. The invalidity of any portion of this chapter shall not abate, reduce or otherwise affect any consideration or other obligation required of the grantee of this franchise.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

All provisions of this chapter are subject to all applicable state or federal laws, rules and regulations, as they now exist or as they are hereinafter amended, including the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, and shall be governed by and construed in accordance therewith. Said laws, rules and regulations shall be deemed to be part of this chapter, and any franchise granted hereunder. In the event such laws, rules and regulations are contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or any franchise granted hereunder, then such laws, rules and regulations shall prevail.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall become effective 30 days from and after its passage.

(Ord. 2326, passed - -1980)

On February 3, 1981, City Council granted Teleprompter a 120-day extension to account for construction delays experienced by Teleprompter. The extension is subject to the following conditions.

(A) Where this franchise references a service rate which shall remain in effect with no increase for a period of three years, such time period for the service rate shall be extended for an additional 120 days.

(B) Teleprompter will pay the city a $300,000 advance franchise fee. The franchise payment is to be nonrefundable and carries no restrictions by Teleprompter.

(C) A 120-day extension of time to complete the system is hereby granted and the penalty provisions contained in the franchise will apply should the 120-day extension not be met. The amended completion dates for the five specified areas are as follows.

(Ord. 2368, passed - -1981)