Tehama Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as the "Tehama County Cable Communications Ordinance."

(Ord. 1337 §1, 1986)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words, abbreviations, and their derivations, shall have the meaning given in this section. 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.

1. "Applicant" means any person or corporation submitting an application for a cable communications franchise.

2. "Basic service" means that service regularly provided to all subscribers at a basic monthly rate, including but not limited to the retransmission of local and distant broadcast television signals, nonpay satellite services, automated services, and local origination and access services.

3. "Board of supervisors" or "board" means the present governing body of the county, or any future board constituting the legislative body of the county.

4. "Cable communications system" or "CATV system" means a system employing antennae, microwave, wire, waveguides, coaxial cables, or other conductors, equipment or facilities in public rightsofway, designed, constructed or used for the purpose of:

a. Collecting or amplifying local and distant broadcast television or radio signals and transmitting and distributing them;

b. Transmitting original cablecast programming not received through television broadcast signals;

c. Transmitting television pictures, film and videotape programs, not received through broadcast television signals, whether or not encoded or processed to permit reception by only selected receivers;

d. Transmitting and receiving all other signals: Digital, voice, audiovisual, or other forms of electromagnetic signals.

5. "Channel" means a six megahertz (MHz) frequency band, which is capable of carrying either one standard audio visual television signal, or a number of audio, digital or other nonvideo signals.

6. "Community access channel" or "access channel" means any channel or portion of a channel utilized for programming on a nonprofit basis.

7. "County" means the county of Tehama, a jurisdictional authority within the state of California, in its present or future unincorporated form.

8. "Federal Communications Commission" or "FCC" means the present federal agency of that name, as constituted by the Communications Act of 1934, or any successor agency created by the United States Congress.

9. "Franchise," "franchise ordinance" or "franchise agreement" means any authorization, or renewal thereof, granted under this chapter in terms of a franchise, privilege, permit, license or otherwise, to construct, operate and maintain a cable communications system in the county. No such authorization, in whatever form granted, shall mean or include any license or permit generally required for the privilege of transacting and carrying on business within the county, as required by other ordinances and laws of the county.

10. "Grantee" means the person, firm or corporation to whom or which a franchise, as hereinabove defined, is granted by the board of supervisors under this chapter, and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of such person, firm or corporation.

11. "Grantor" means the county of Tehama, acting through its board of supervisors.

12. "Gross receipts" means any and all compensation, in whatever form, directly or indirectly received by the grantee from its Tehama County cable communications system, not including any imposed directly on a subscriber or user by a county, state or other governmental unit, and collected by the grantee for such entity.

13. "Institution" means a building or buildings where service may be utilized in connection with business, trade, profession, public agency or service, school, or nonprofit organization.

14. "Institutional network" means a cable communications network designed principally for the provision of non entertainment interactive services to businesses, schools, public agencies or other nonprofit agencies for use in connection with the ongoing operations of such institutions.

15. "Institutional services" means services delivered on the institutional subscriber network.

16. "Institutional subscriber" means a place of business, public agency, school or nonprofit corporation receiving institutional services on the institutional network.

17. "Interactive services" means services provided to subscribers where the subscriber either:

a. Both receives information consisting of either television or other signal, and transmits signals generated by the subscriber or equipment under his/her control for the purpose of selecting what information shall be transmitted to the subscriber, or for any other purpose; or

b. Transmits signals to any other location for any purpose.

18. "Leased access channel" means any channel or portion of a channel available for programming, for a fee or charge, by persons or entities other than the grantee.

19. "Local origination channel" means any channel or portion of a channel for which the grantee is the only designated programmer, and which is utilized to provide television programs to subscribers.

20. "Nonbasic service" means any cable service in addition to basic services.

21. "Premium or payTV service" means payperprogram, payperchannel, or subscription service, i.e., delivered to subscribers for a fee or charge over and above the regular charges for basic service.

22. "Public access channel" means any channel or portion of a channel where any member of the general public may be a programmer on a firstcome, firstserved basis, subject to appropriate rules formulated by the county and/or the grantee.

23. "Residential network" means a cable communications system designed principally for the delivery of entertainment, community access and interactive services to individual dwelling units.

24. "Residential services" means services delivered on the residential network.

25. "Streets, public ways or rightsofway" means the surface of and the space above and below any public street, avenue, road, highway, freeway, boulevard, lane, concourse, driveway, bridge, tunnel, park, parkway, sidewalk, waterway, dock, pier, alley, court, rightofway, public utility easement, or any other public place, ground or water now or hereafter existing within the county.

26. "Subscriber" means any person or institution that elects to subscribe to, for any purpose, a service provided by the grantee, by means of or in connection with the cable communications system, whether or not a fee is paid for such service.

27. "Tapping" means the observing of a communications signal exchange, where the observer is neither of the communicating parties, whether the exchange is observed by visual or electronic means, for any purpose whatsoever.

(Ord. 1337 §2, 1986)

At all reasonable times following reasonable notice, the grantee shall permit any duly authorized representative of the county to examine all property of the grantee, together with any appurtenant property of the grantee situated within or without the county, 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 its franchise. If any maps or records are not kept in the county, and if the board shall determine that an examination thereof is necessary or appropriate, then travel and maintenance expense necessarily incurred in making such examination shall be paid by the grantee.

(Ord. 1337 §13.1, 1986)

A. The grantee shall prepare and furnish to the county clerk, at the times and in the form prescribed by either of such 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 county or any of its officers in connection with the franchise.

B. The grantee shall at all times make and keep in the county full and complete plans and records, showing the exact location of all cable communications system equipment installed or in use in the streets and other public places in the county. The grantee shall file with the county's director of public works, on or before the last day of June of each year, a current map or set of maps, drawn to scale, showing all cable communications system equipment installed and in place in streets and other public places in the county.

(Ord. 1337 §13.2, 1986)

A. At any time, the board may, as necessary, adopt rules, regulations and standards governing the operation of cable communications systems in the county, consistent with the operations of the grantee of any cable communications franchise, and are expressly declared to be a part of any such franchise.

B. Prior to adopting any such rule, regulation or standard, the board shall conduct a duly noticed hearing thereon. At the time set for such hearing, or at any adjournment thereof, the board, by resolution, may adopt, amend or modify such rules and regulations. The standards adopted may govern engineering, construction, installation, service, technical performance, maintenance, and performance testing of all cable communications systems in the county.

(Ord. 1337 §14, 1986)

The board shall amend this chapter and any franchise issued thereunder, upon its own motion or the application of a grantee, whenever amendment is necessary to enable the grantee to utilize new developments in cable communications, television, or radio signal transmission which would improve and update cable communications service in the county, or to comply with any modifications in the rules of the FCC. Amendments to Section 76.31 of the FCC Rules will be incorporated into this chapter within one year of their adoption, or at the time of franchise renewal, whichever comes first. No amendment shall be adopted except after full, open public hearing afforded due process, and no amendment substantially amending the existing rights and obligations of the grantee shall be adopted without grantee's consent.

(Ord. 1337 §15, 1986)

Every direction, notice or order to be served upon a grantee shall be hand delivered or sent by certified mail to the local office described in Sections 6.20.720 through 6.20.750 of this chapter. Every notice to be served upon the county shall be hand delivered, or sent by certified mail, to the county clerk, at County Court House, Red Bluff, California 96080. The delivery of such shall be deemed to have been at the time of receipt.

(Ord. 1337 §19, 1986)