Montague Municipal Code Art. XVI Miscellaneous Provisions

When not otherwise prescribed in this chapter, all matters in this chapter required to be filed with the city shall be filed with the city clerk. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

Grantee shall, without charge, connect within thirty days and provide grantee's programming services (including off-air broadcast signals, “basis” satellite services and “tier” satellite services, but not including “pay” or “premium” programming, pay-per-view events or any other per-program, per-event or per-channel type programming) to all public and nonprofit private schools located in the city, city police and fire stations, city recreation centers, and such other buildings owned in full by the city, which shall from time to time be designated by the city, provided that such buildings shall be located in areas meeting the requirements of Section 5.12.350. The grantee shall be responsible for providing only one outlet of cable service at each of the buildings referred to in the previous sentence, except for public and nonprofit private schools, where the grantee shall provide outlets to all classrooms to the extent reasonably possible. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

In the case of any emergency or disaster, the grantee shall, upon request of the city administrator, make available its facilities to the city for emergency use during the emergency or disaster period. The grantee shall, upon the city's request, provide advance orientation and guidance regarding the use of its facilities in an emergency or disaster. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

The grantee shall maintain a toll-free number which subscribers may call without incurring toll charges so that cable system maintenance service shall be promptly available to subscribers. (Ord. 93-03 § 17 (part), 1993)

Subject to the line extension provisions in Section 5.12.350, no person, firm, or corporation in the city shall be arbitrarily refused service; provided, however, that the grantee shall not be required to provide service to any person, firm or corporation which does not pay the applicable connection fee or monthly service any amount legally owed to the grantee for connection or monthly service. (Ord. 93-03 § 17 (part), 1993)

Should the grantee become dissatisfied with any material decision or ruling of the city pertaining to cable communications matters, the grantee may pursue such other remedies as are available, including the bringing of action in any court of competent jurisdiction for breach of contract (and for such purposes the rights granted to grantee pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed contractual) and damages. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

The grantee shall not engage directly or indirectly in the business of selling, leasing, renting, furnishing, providing, repairing or servicing (except to the extent minor tuning adjustments are performed) any television or radio within the city; and such prohibition shall extend and apply to the officers and directors of the grantee, to any person or combination of persons owning, holding or controlling five percent or more of any corporate stock or other ownership interest of grantee, or any affiliated or subsidiary entity, owned or controlled by grantee, or in which any officer, director, stockholder, general or limited partner, or person or group of persons holding, or controlling any ownership interest in the grantee, shall own, hold or control five percent or more of any corporate stock or other ownership interest; and such prohibition shall likewise apply to any person, firm or corporation acting or serving in the capacity of a holding or controlled company. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

The grantee shall give subscribers at least three days' written notice prior to cutting off all service except that no notice shall be required:

• A. For the disconnection of pay-per-view or other per-event programming services;

• B. If the disconnection is requested by the subscribers;

• C. If the disconnection is required to comply with rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

A. Subscriber Complaints. The grantee shall establish procedures for receiving, acting upon and resolving subscriber complaints and shall endeavor to resolve such complaints to the subscriber's satisfaction. The grantee shall furnish to subscribers, at the time of the initial subscription, a notice that such procedures are in effect. The grantee shall display in each subscriber bill a telephone number for subscriber calls. Any service complaints from subscribers shall be acted upon as soon as reasonably possible consistent with the nature of the complaint. Compete loss of cable service will be acted upon as soon as possible and in any event within twenty-four hours. Grantee shall have available repair and technical personnel capable of responding to cable system outages on a twenty-four hour per day basis, seven days per week, including holidays.

B. Efficient Service. The grantee shall render efficient service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible. Maintenance and interruption of service shall occur, to the extent possible, during periods of minimum viewing hours.

C. Service Log. The grantee shall keep a maintenance service log which indicates the nature of each service complaint, the date it was received, and the disposition of said complaint and the date thereof. Photocopies of this log, together with a monthly outage report, shall be provided for inspection at the request of the city.

D. Service Call Notice. The grantee shall notify subscribers of the expected time of any service call. At the minimum, such notification shall indicate whether the visit will occur before or after noon. To the extent practicable, subscriber preference for the scheduling of service calls be honored.

E. Customer Service Representation. Within six months of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, the grantee shall employ sufficient customer service representatives and maintain a sufficient number of telephone lines so that:

1. Incoming callers shall encounter “busy” signals on an average of no more than one out of every three attempted calls placed to the grantee's telephone numbers over a twenty-four hour period as measured over a thirty-day period. Calls from the same household made within two minutes of each other (if such can be determined) shall be deemed a single call.

2. Incoming callers shall encounter “hold” time no more than two minutes, on average across all callers over a thirty-day period. In computing the average set forth in this subsection, the grantee shall have the option to exclude from any such thirty-day period either (a) any three days of grantee's selection or (b) the actual number of days in which a system failure occurred which affected service to more than one hundred subscribers.

3. These standards are to be met when grantee is providing regular service delivery during normal business hours. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

The grantee shall commence the carriage on the cable system of any locally originated FM radio station broadcast signal not later than ninety days after the two following criteria have been met: (A) any such signal shall achieve and maintain a minimum signal strength of one-half millivolt per meter (-12 DbmV at 100 MHz) when measured at grantee's headend site using a typical directional FM antenna with an eight dB gain placed at a height of nine meters above ground level and rotated for maximum signal strength, and (B) such signal strength measurements are consistently obtained during tests conducted over a six-month period with samples taken not less than monthly. (Ord. 93-03 § 17 (part), 1993)

During the term of this franchise, grantee shall designate at least one full-time activated channel for the carriage of PEG programming. As used in this section, “PEG programming” shall mean (A) noncommercial use by the public on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis, (B) noncommercial use by public schools and school districts and not-for-profit educational institutions chartered or licensed by the state of California, or an agency or division thereof, and (C) noncommercial use by a municipal, county or state government, or an agency or division thereof. The channel on which PEG programming currently is carried is used on a shared basis with the city of Yreka. The grantee shall use its reasonable best efforts to facilitate the city's use of such channel and the further development of PEG programming. (Ord. 93-03 §17 (part), 1993)

Any franchise granted under this chapter may be renewed only upon the application of the grantee in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Act. The grantee's application for the renewal of the franchise shall be in writing filed with the city clerk, and be accompanied by an application fee in the amount of five thousand dollars, in the form of a cashier's check payable to the city. This application fee shall be the sole payment required of the grantee in connection with the renewal of the franchise. The application shall, at the city's option, also include the following information:

A. The name and address of the applicant. If the applicant is a partnership, the name and address of each partner shall also be set forth. If the applicant is a corporation, the application shall also state the names and addresses of its directors, executive officers, major stockholders, and the name and addresses of parent subsidiary companies;

B. A statement and description of the cable system proposed to be constructed, installed, maintained or operated by the applicant; the proposed location of such system and its various components; the manner in which applicant proposes to construct, install, maintain and operate the same; and particularly, the extent and manner in which existing or future poles or other facilities of other public utilities will be used for such system;

C. A description, in detail, of the streets, public places and proposed public streets within which applicant proposes or seeks authority to construct, install or maintain any cable equipment or facilities; a detailed description of the equipment or facilities proposed to be constructed, installed or maintained therein; and the proposed specific location thereof;

D. A map specifically showing and delineating the existing and proposed service area or areas within which applicant proposes to provide cable services and for which a franchise is requested;

E. A statement or schedule setting forth the number of channels and all of the television or radio stations proposed to be received, transmitted, conducted, relayed or otherwise conveyed over the cable system;

F. A statement or schedule in a form approved by the city administrator of proposed rates and charges to subscribers for installation and services, and a copy of proposed subscription agreement between the grantee and its subscribers, if any, shall accompany the application;

G. A copy of any contract, if existing, between the applicant and any public utility providing for the use of facilities of such public utility, such as poles, lines or conduits;

H. A statement setting forth all agreements and understandings, whether written, oral or implied, existing between the applicant and any person, firm or corporation with respect to the proposed franchise or the proposed cable operation. If a franchise is granted to a person, firm or corporation posing as a front or as the representative of another person, firm or corporation and such information is not disclosed in the original application, such franchise shall be deemed void and of no force and effect whatsoever;

I. A financial statement prepared by a certified public accountant or person otherwise satisfactory to the city, showing applicant's financial status and his financial ability to complete the construction and installation of the proposed cable system;

J. 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 renewal should be granted. (Ord. 93-03 §18, 1993)