Santa Barbara County Municipal Code § 43-52 Reservation of rights

This article V of Chapter 43 shall be known as the "State Video Franchise Ordinance."

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

For purposes of this article V, the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meaning given in this chapter 43. Unless otherwise expressly stated, words not defined in this article V shall be given the meanings set forth in section 43-1 of the Santa Barbara County Code as may be amended from time to time, unless the context indicates otherwise. Words not defined in this section 43-18 through 43-30 or in section 43-1 of the Santa Barbara County Code shall have the same meaning as established in (1) the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 ("DIVCA"), and if not defined therein, (2) commission rules implementing DIVCA, and if not defined therein, (3) Title VI of Title 47 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47USC § 521 et seq., and if not defined therein (4) their common and ordinary meaning. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular number, words in the singular number include the plural number, and "including" and "include" are not limiting. The word "shall" and "will" are always mandatory. References to governmental entities (whether persons or entities) refer to those entities or their successors in authority. If specific provisions of law referred to herein are renumbered, then the reference shall be read to refer to the renumbered provision. References to laws, ordinances or regulations shall be interpreted broadly to cover government actions, however nominated, and include laws, ordinances and regulations now in force or hereinafter enacted or amended.

(a) "Access," PEG access," "PEG use" or "PEG" shall have the same meaning as in Public Utilities Code Section 5870. These terms mean the availability of a cable or state video franchise holder's system for public, educational, or governmental use by the local entity or its designee(s) to provide public, educational and/or governmental channels and programming.

(b) "Gross revenues" shall have the same meaning as in Public Utilities Code Section 5860(d).

(c) "State franchise holder" or "holder" or "franchisee" or "state franchisee" means a cable operator or video service provider that has been issued a franchise by the California Public Utilities Commission to provide cable service or video service, as those terms are defined in California Public Utilities Code Section 5830, within any portion of the unincorporated county. For purposes of the emergency alert system, the service area shall be within the entire county.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

It is the purpose of this article V to regulate video service providers holding state video franchises within the County of Santa Barbara ("county") and implement the provisions of the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 ("DIVCA"), Assembly Bill 2987 (Ch. 700, Stats. 2006), codified at California Public Utilities Code Sections 5800 et seq. (the "Act" or "DIVCA"), and the rules of the California Public Utilities Commission ("PUC") promulgated thereunder that are applicable to a "local franchising entity" or a "local entity" as defined in Sections 5830(h) and 5830(k) of the California Public Utilities Code, respectively. Consistent with that purpose, the provisions of this chapter are to be construed in a manner that is consistent with the California Public Utilities Code and the applicable rules of the commission promulgated thereunder.

With the passage and adoption of DIVCA, the PUC became the sole authority with power to grant new video franchises. Pursuant to DIVCA, the county shall receive a franchise fees, PEG access channels, and PEG fees from all state video franchise holders operating within the county. Additionally, the county acquired the responsibility to establish and enforce penalties, consistent with state law, against all state video franchise holders operating within the county for violations of customer service standards. DIVCA precludes the county from adopting its own standards and grants all authority to adopt customer service standards to the state agency, the PUC. DIVCA leaves unchanged the county's authority to regulate the county's existing local cable franchises until the expiration of any such local franchises.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

(a) Every state franchise holder operating within the unincorporated county shall pay a franchise fee to the county in the amount of five percent of that state franchise holder's gross revenues derived from the operation of its network to provide cable or video services within the county in a manner consistent with Public Utilities Code Section 5860.

(b) For purposes of this chapter, "gross revenue" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 5860 (d) and (e) of the California Public Utilities Code.

(c) A state franchise holder shall remit the franchise fee to the county quarterly, within forty-five days after the end of the quarter for that calendar quarter. Each payment shall be accompanied by a summary explaining the basis for the calculation of the franchise fee. If the state franchise holder does not pay the franchise fee when due, the state franchise holder shall pay, pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 5860(h), a late payment charge at a rate per year equal to the highest prime lending rate during the period of delinquency, plus one percent. If the state franchise holder has overpaid the franchise fee, it may deduct the overpayment from its next quarterly payment.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

(a) Franchise holders currently operating within the county under a local franchise agreement with the county shall, pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 5870, continue to fully provide and support PEG channel facilities and institutional networks and to provide cable services to community buildings to the maximum extent permitted by law until the local franchise expires.

(b) A state franchise holder under the Act shall designate a sufficient amount of capacity on its network to allow the provision of the same number of public, educational and governmental access channels as are activated and provided as of January 1, 2007 [of at least six PEG channels to satisfy the requirement of state law, within the time limits specified by state law]. This section shall serve as the request for PEG channels required by California Public Utilities Code section 5870(a). A state franchise holder shall provide an additional PEG channel when the standards set forth in Section 5870(d) of the California Public Utilities Code are satisfied by the city or any entity designated by the city to manage one or more of the PEG channels.

(c) All state franchise holders shall comply with the provisions of the Act related to PEG channels. Without limiting the foregoing, the PEG channels shall all be carried on the basic service tier. To the extent feasible, the PEG channels shall not be separated numerically from other channels carried on the basic service tier and the channel numbers for the PEG channels shall be the same channel numbers used by the incumbent cable operator unless prohibited by federal law and shall provide picture and sound quality and channel accessibility and location equal to, or substantially equal to, that provided by the incumbent cable providers. After the initial designation of PEG channel numbers, the channel numbers shall not be changed without the agreement of the local entity unless the change is required by federal law.

(d) A state franchise holder shall have three months from the date County requests the PEG channels to designate the capacity. However, the three-month period shall be tolled by any period during which the designation or provision of PEG channel capacity is technically infeasible, including any failure or delay of the incumbent cable operator to take adequate interconnection available, as required by the Act.

(e) Any state franchise holder who believes that the designation or provision of PEG channel capacity is technically infeasible, shall provide to county, in writing, its reasons therefore and its plan for correcting or solving the infeasibility. In the event of such occurrence, the State franchise holder and the county shall meet to determine a mutually acceptable resolution. The county may hold a hearing on the claim of infeasibility and, thereafter, take such action as county deems proper to require the designation and provision of the PEG channels on the state franchise holder's system.

(f) Any state franchise holder operating within the unincorporated area of the county shall pay to the county a PEG support fee equal to one percent of gross revenues, as allowed by Public Utilities Code Section 5870(n). Such payment shall be paid in accordance with Public Utilities Code Section 5870 and shall include a report documenting the basis of the calculation of the fee. A state franchise holder shall remit the PEG support fee to the county quarterly, within forty-five days after the end of the quarter for that calendar quarter If the state franchise holder does not pay the PEG support fee when due, the state franchise holder shall pay, pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 5870, a late payment charge at a rate per year equal to the highest prime lending rate during the period of delinquency, plus one percent.

(g) Any state franchisee(s) and any incumbent cable operator shall interconnect for PEG access carriage purposes. If a state franchise holder and an incumbent cable operator cannot reach a mutually acceptable interconnection agreement for PEG carriage, the county may require the incumbent cable operator to allow the state franchise holder to interconnect its network with the incumbent cable operator's network at a technically feasible point on the state franchise holder's network as identified by the state franchise holder. If no technically feasible point of interconnection is available, the state franchise holder shall make interconnection available to each PEG channel originator programming a channel in the county and shall provide the facilities necessary for the interconnection. The cost of any interconnection shall be borne by the state franchise holder requesting the interconnection unless otherwise agreed to by the parties.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

Not more than once annually, the county general services director or the director's designee may examine and perform an audit of the business records of a holder of a state video franchise to ensure compliance with this ordinance.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

(a) A state franchise holder shall comply with Sections 53055, 53055.1, 53055.2 and 53088.2 of the California Government Code; the FCC customer service and notice standards set forth in Sections 76.309, 76.1602, 76.1603 and 76.1619 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations; Section 637.5 of the California Penal Code; the privacy standards of Section 551 of Title 47 of the United States Code; and all other applicable state and federal customer service and consumer protection standards pertaining to the provision of video service, including any such federal of state standards hereafter adopted. In case of a conflict, the stricter standard shall apply. All customer service and consumer protection standards under this paragraph shall be interpreted and applied to accommodate newer or different technologies while meeting or exceeding the goals of the standards.

(b) The county shall enforce, in the manner set forth in the Act, all customer service and protection standards contained in Public Utilities Code Section 5900 of the Act, including without limitation those standards set forth in Public Utilities Code Section 5900(c). The county is authorized to impose penalties for any material breach of the Act, as set forth herein.

(c) The county general services director or the director's designee shall monitor the compliance of state video franchise holders with respect to state and federal customer service and protection standards. The county general services director or the director's designee shall provide the state franchise holder with written notice of any material breaches of applicable customer service standards and will allow the state video franchise holder thirty days from the receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material breach. Material breaches not remedied within the thirty-day time period will be subject to the maximum penalties, as described in subsection (d) and imposed by the county.

(d) The maximum monetary penalties set forth in Public Utilities Code Section 5900 are hereby adopted and enacted as the applicable schedule of penalties for the material breach of the Act, including but not limited to Public Utilities Code Section 5900 of the Act, by a holder of a state franchise, as follows:

1. For the first occurrence of a material breach, five hundred dollars per day for each material breach, not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars for occurrence of a material breach.

2. If a material breach has occurred and notice has been provided and a fine or penalty has been assessed, for any subsequent breach of the same nature within twelve months, shall be subject to a penalty of up to one thousand dollars for each day of each material breach, not to exceed three thousand dollars for each occurrence of the material breach.

3. If a third or further material breach of the same nature occurs within those same twelve months, and notice has provided and a fine or penalty has been assessed; the penalties shall be increased to a maximum of two thousand five hundred dollars for each occurrence of the material breach, not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars for each occurrence of the material breach.

4. No monetary penalties shall be assessed for a material breach if it is out of the reasonable control of the state franchise holder.

(e) As used herein, "material breach" is defined as set forth in the Act, Public Utilities Code Section 5900(j).

(f) A state video franchise holder may appeal a penalty assessed by the county general services director to the board of supervisors within sixty days of the initial assessment. The board of supervisors shall hear all evidence and relevant testimony and may uphold, modify or vacate the penalty. The board of supervisors' decision on the imposition of the penalty shall be final and subject to judicial review.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

(a) Applicants for state franchises within the boundaries of the county must concurrently provide complete copies to the county of any application or amendments to applications filed with the PUC. One complete copy must be provided to the clerk of the board of supervisors, and one complete copy to the general services director.

(b) The general services director shall provide any appropriate comments to the PUC regarding the application or an amendment to an application for a state franchise.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

Any state franchisee that has held a locally issued franchise agreement shall, consistent with Public Utilities Code Section 5870, continue to fully provide and support PEG channel facilities and institutional networks and to provide cable services to community buildings to the maximum extent permitted or required by law, until such local franchise expires or until the term of the franchise would have expired if it had not been terminated pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 5840 (o), or until the parties mutually agree otherwise.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

(a) Each state franchise holder shall comply with the emergency alert system requirements of the Federal Communications Commission in order that emergency messages may be distributed over the state franchise holder's network.

(b) To the extent consistent with California Public Utilities Code Section 5880, each state franchisee shall provide the system capability to transmit an emergency alert signal to all participating subscribers, in the form of an emergency override capability to permit the county to interrupt and cablecast an audio message on all channels simultaneously in the event of a disaster or public emergency. This capability shall include the entire area served by the state franchisee within the county, not merely the unincorporated county.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

(a) Each state franchise holder shall comply provisions of Public Utilities Code Section 5885, including but not limited to those provisions the govern the installation, construction and maintenance of its network in the public rights-of-way, the applicability of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to projects by a state franchisee, the approval or denial of applications for encroachment permits under Section 5885(c).

(b) Each state franchisee shall comply with all applicable provisions of the Santa Barbara County Code and the California Streets and Highways Code regarding issuance of encroachment permits and all construction or maintenance activities within public rights-of-way. The California Department of Transportation (CAL Trans) Highway Design Manual as the same may be issued from time to time by CAL Trans shall be controlling as to construction standards and is adopted herein by reference.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

The County of Santa Barbara reserves the right to enact ordinances or to enforce existing provisions of articles I—IV of this chapter 43 should it be determined by state or federal law, regulation or rule, that the county may enter into local franchises with providers of cable television, video services or other technological systems.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter for any reason is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the chapter. The board of supervisors hereby declares that it would have adopted this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. No. 4785, § 4, 4-19-2011)

Appendix A CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS

1. Office Availability.

1.1. Each franchisee will maintain offices at a convenient locations in the county that will be open for walk-in traffic at least nine hours per day (except legal holidays) Monday through Friday, with some evening hours, and at least five hours on Saturday to allow subscribers to pay bills, drop off equipment and to pick up equipment.

1.2. Each franchisee will perform service calls, installations, and disconnects at least ten hours per day Monday through Saturday, except legal holidays, provided that a Franchisee will respond to outages twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

2. Telephones.

2.1. Each franchisee will establish a publicly listed local toll-free telephone number. Customer service representatives must answer the phone at least ten hours per day, Monday through Saturday, except legal holidays, for the purpose of receiving requests for service, inquiries, and complaints from subscribers. After such business hours the phone will be answered so that customers can register complaints and report service problems on a twenty-four hour per day, seven day per week basis, and so that the Franchisee can respond to service outages as required herein.

2.2. Telephone answering time will not exceed thirty seconds or four rings, and the time to transfer the call to a customer service representative (including hold time) will not exceed an additional thirty seconds.

2.3. Under normal operating conditions customers will receive a busy signal less than three percent of the time.

2.4. Under normal operating conditions, the standards set out in section 2.2 through 2.3 will be met ninety percent of the time, measured quarterly.

3. Scheduling Work.

3.1. All appointments for service, installation, or disconnection will be specified by date. Each franchisee will specify a specific time at which the work will be done, or offer a choice of time blocks, which will not exceed four hours in length. A franchisee may also, upon request, schedule service installation calls outside normal business hours, for the express convenience of the customer.

3.2. If at any time an installer or technician is late for an appointment and believes a scheduled appointment time will be missed, an attempt to contact the customer will be made before the time of appointment and the appointment rescheduled at a time convenient to the customer, if rescheduling is necessary. It is the operator's burden to prove it met the appointment.

3.3. The franchisee will offer and fully describe to subscribers who have experienced a missed appointment (where the missed appointment was not the subscriber's fault) that the subscriber may choose between the following options:

3.3.1. 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;

3.3.2. One month of the most widely subscribed to service tier free of charge for other appointments; and

3.3.3. An opportunity to elect remedies under California Civil Code 1722, if applicable.

4. Service Standards.

4.1. Under normal operating conditions, requests for service, repair, and maintenance must be acknowledged by a trained customer service representative within twenty-four hours, or before the end of the next business day, whichever is earlier.

4.2. A franchisee will respond to all other inquiries (including billing inquiries) within five business days of the inquiry or complaint.

4.3. Under normal operating conditions, repairs and maintenance for outages or service interruptions must be completed within twenty-four hours after the outage or interruption becomes known to franchisee where the franchisee has adequate access to facilities to which it must have access in order to remedy the problem.

4.4. Under normal operating conditions, 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 business days from the date of the initial request.

4.5. When normal operating conditions do not exist, a franchisee will complete the work in the shortest time possible.

4.6. A franchisee will not cancel a service or installation appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day preceding the scheduled appointment.

4.7. Requests for additional outlets, service upgrades or other connections (e.g., DMX, VCR, A/B switch) separate from the initial installation will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed.

4.8. Under normal operating conditions, the service standards set out in sections 4.1 through 4.7 will be met at least ninety-five percent of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.

4.9. The failure of the franchisee to hire sufficient staff or to properly train its staff will not justify a franchisee's failure to comply with this provision.

5. Disabled Services. With regard to subscribers with disabilities, upon subscriber request, each franchisee will arrange for pickup and/or replacement of converters or other franchisee equipment at the subscriber's address or by a satisfactory equivalent (such as the provision of a postage-prepaid mailer).

6. Notice to Subscribers Regarding Service. A franchisee will provide each subscriber at the time service is installed, and annually thereafter, clear and accurate written information:

6.1. On placing a service call, filing a complaint, or requesting an adjustment (including when a subscriber is entitled to refunds for outages and how to obtain them);

6.2. Showing the telephone number of county office responsible for administering the cable television franchise;

6.3. Providing a schedule of rates and charges (which listing must identify any discounts offered), 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; and

6.4. Describing conditions that must be met to qualify for discounts;

6.5. Describing any other of the franchisee's policies in connection with its Subscribers; and

6.6. Describing any discounts, services, or specialized equipment available to subscribers with disabilities; explaining how to obtain them; and explaining how to use any accessibility features.

7. Notices to County. Franchisee will provide county with copies of all notices provided to its subscribers pursuant to this article.

8. Changes in Noticed Information. Franchisee will provide the county administrator (or designee) at least sixty days, and all subscribers at least thirty days, written notice of any material changes in the information required to be provided under this article; except that, if federal law establishes a shorter notice period and preempts this requirement, the federal requirement will apply.

9. Truth in Advertising. Each franchisee will take appropriate steps to ensure that all written franchisee promotional materials, announcements, and advertising of residential 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 franchisee will take appropriate steps to ensure that price terms are clearly and accurately disclosed to potential customers in advance of taking the order.

9.1 Each franchisee will maintain a file open for public inspection 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 year from the date of such notice or promotional offer.

10. Interruptions of Service. A franchisee will provide forty-eight hours prior notice to subscribers and county before interrupting service for planned maintenance or construction: provided, however, that planned maintenance that does not require more than two hours' interruption of service and that occurs between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 A.M. will not require such notice to subscribers, and notice to county must be given no less than twenty-four hours before the anticipated service interruption.

11. Prorated Billing. A franchisee's first billing statement after a new installation or service change will be prorated as appropriate and will reflect any security deposit.

12. Billing Statement.

12.1. A franchisee's billing statement 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.

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

12.2.1. Fifteen days after the date the statement is mailed; or

12.2.2. The tenth day of the service period for which the bill is rendered.

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

12.4. A late fee may not be imposed unless the subscriber is provided written notice at least ten days prior to the date the fee is imposed that a fee will be imposed, the date the fee will be imposed and the amount of the fee that will be imposed if the delinquency is not paid. A late fee may not be imposed unless the outstanding balance exceeds ten dollars.

12.5. Subscribers will not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by a franchisee, 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 postmarked on the due date.

12.6. A franchisee's bill must permit a subscriber to remit payment by mail or in person at the franchisee's local office.

13. Credit for Service Impairment.

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

13.2. A franchisee need not credit subscriber where it establishes that a subscriber will obtain a refund 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 franchisee).

14. Billing Complaints.

Franchisee will respond to all written billing complaints from subscribers within thirty days.

15. Billing Refunds.

Refunds to subscribers will be issued no later than

15.1. The earlier of the subscriber's next billing cycle following resolution of the refund request, or thirty days; or

15.2. The date of return of all equipment to franchisee, if cable service has been terminated.

16. Credits for Cable Service.

Credits for cable service will be issued no later than the subscriber's next billing cycle after the determination that the credit is warranted.

17. Disconnection / Down-grades.

17.1. A subscriber may terminate service at any time.

17.2. A franchisee will promptly disconnect from the franchisee's cable system or downgrade any subscriber who so requests. No charges for service may be made after the subscriber requests disconnection. No period of notice before voluntary termination or downgrade of cable service may be required of subscribers by any franchisee. There will be no charge for disconnection, except for the collection fee authorized by state law, and any downgrade charges will conform to applicable law.

18. Security Deposit. Any security deposit and/or other funds due a subscriber that disconnects or downgrades service will be returned to the subscriber within thirty days or in the next billing cycle, whichever is later, from the date disconnection or downgrade was requested except in cases where the subscriber does not permit the franchisee to recover its equipment, in which case the amounts owed will be paid to subscribers within thirty days of the date the equipment was recovered, or in the next billing cycle, whichever is later.

19. Disconnection Due to Nonpayment.

19.1. A franchisee may not disconnect a subscriber's cable service for nonpayment unless:

19.1.1. The subscriber is delinquent in payment for cable service;

19.1.2. A separate, written notice of impending disconnection, postage prepaid, has been sent to the subscriber at least twenty 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 franchisee who can provide additional information concerning and handle complaints or initiate an investigation concerning the services and charges in question;

19.1.3. The subscriber fails to pay the amounts owed to avoid disconnection by the date of disconnection; and

19.1.4. No pending inquiry exists regarding the bill to which franchisee has not responded in writing.

19.2. If the subscriber pays all amounts due, including late charges, before the date scheduled for disconnection, the franchisee will not disconnect service. Service may only be terminated on days in which the customer can reach a representative of the video provider either in person or by telephone.

19.3. 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, if any, the franchisee will promptly reinstate service.

20. Immediate Disconnection. A franchisee may immediately disconnect a subscriber if:

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

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

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

20.4. After disconnection, the franchisee 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 franchisee for damage to its cable system or equipment. Provided that, no reconnection fee may be imposed on a subscriber disconnected pursuant to this article if the leakage was the result of the franchisee's acts or omissions; or in any case unless the franchisee notifies the subscriber of the leakage at least three business days in advance of disconnection, and the subscriber has failed to correct the leakage within that time.

21. Franchisee's Property. Except as applicable law may otherwise provide, a franchisee may remove its property from a subscriber's premises within thirty days of the termination of service. If a franchisee fails to remove its property in that period, the property will be deemed abandoned unless the franchisee has been denied access to the subscriber's premises, or the franchisee has a continuing right to occupy the premises under applicable law.

22. Deposits. A franchisee may require a reasonable, nondiscriminatory deposit on equipment provided to subscribers. Deposits will be placed in an interest-bearing account, and the franchisee will return the deposit, plus interest earned to the date the deposit is returned to the subscriber, less any amount the franchisee can demonstrate should be deducted for damage to such equipment.

23. Parental Control Option. Without limiting a franchisee's obligations under federal law, after March 1, 1999, a franchisee must provide at the request of the subscriber and at no charge channel blockage of any channel(s) requested by subscriber. In addition, without limiting a franchisee's obligations under federal law, after March 1, 1999, a franchisee must provide at the request of the subscriber parental control devices that enable the subscriber to block the video and audio portion of any channel or channels of programming. Franchisee may charge for such parental control devices.

24. Penalties. Pursuant to California Government Code Section 63088.2, and any successor statute or regulation, penalties will be assessed against a franchisee for any breach of Sections 1 though 23 of these customers service standards.

25. County administrator is authorized to relieve a franchisee of its obligations. Notwithstanding the requirements of this article, the county administrator is authorized to relieve a franchisee of its obligations under this article if:

25.1. Franchisee shows that there is an alternative standard that is substantially similar to that established by this article;

25.2. The county administrator determines that there is sufficient competition among cable operators that renders application of these standards unnecessary; or

25.3. In light of the number of customers served by a cable operator, the requirements of this article are, in the county administrator's sole discretion, unduly burdensome and there is an alternative way to serve the same interest. (Ord. No. 4371, § 2)

Appendix B APPLICATION FOR OVS FRANCHISE

1. Please provide the following information on a separate attachment:

a. The name and address of the Applicant.

b. Identify who owns and controls the Applicant. Your answer should list the names and addresses of the ten (10) largest holders of an ownership interest in the Applicant the names and addresses of all persons in the Applicant's direct ownership chain, showing their relation to one another. If there are contracts for the management and operation of the OVS, or arrangements for use of the OVS by an Affiliate, the entities involved and their ownership, and their relationship to the Applicant should be described.

2. Please provide information sufficient to show that you have the technical resources to construct and maintain the proposed OVS. Identify the companies and personnel that will be involved in the construction and maintenance, and references for the entities identified.

3. Please check the appropriate box.

In any case where the answer to a question was "yes," please provide a detailed explanation of your answer.

4. Please provide a statement prepared by a certified public accountant showing that Applicant has the financial resources necessary to construct and operate the OVS as proposed.

5. Please identify the area of the County that will be served by the OVS, with accompanying maps.

6. Provide a schedule for construction of the OVS, including an estimate of plant mileage and its location; whether or not an institutional network will be constructed information on the availability of space in conduits including, where appropriate, an estimate of the cost of any necessary rearrangement of existing facilities; and a description, where appropriate, of how services will be converted from existing facilities to new facilities.

7. Describe in detail the channels, facilities and other support you propose to provide for public, educational and government use of the system.

The undersigned hereby certifies the truth and accuracy of the information in the Application, and all attachments thereto, acknowledges the enforceability of Application commitments, and certifies that the Application meets all requirements of Applicable Law.

FOR:___________

BY___________

ITS___________

Subscribed and sworn before me this _______ day of___________, ___________.

[Notary Seal and signature]

(Ord. No. 4371, § 2)