Trinity County Municipal Code Ch. 5.16 Catv Franchises

This chapter shall be known as the "cable television ordinance."

(Ord. 366 §1, 1978)

For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall have the meanings given in this section:

A. "Board" means the board of supervisors or any future board constituting the legislative body of the county.

B. "Community antenna television system" or "CATV" means coaxial cables, wave guides, or other conductors and equipment for providing television service by cable or through its facilities as contemplated in this chapter.

C. "County" means the county of Trinity.

D. "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.

E. "Grantee" means the persons or corporations to whom or which a franchise under this chapter is granted by the board of supervisors and the lawful successor or assignee of said person or corporations.

F. "Gross subscriber revenues" includes any and all compensation or receipts derived by grantee from installation, disconnection and reinstallation charges and periodic service charges in connection with the carriage of broadcast services with the county, but shall not include any refunds or credits made to subscribers or any taxes imposed upon the services furnished by grantee. Nor shall it include revenue from "ancillary" or "auxiliary" services, which include, but are not limited to, advertising, leased channels, and programming supplied on a per program or per channel charge basis, if any.

G. "Street" means the surface of, and the space above and below, any public street, road, highway, freeway, land, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway or drive, now or hereafter existing as such within the county.

H. "Subscribers" means any person or entity receiving for any purpose the CATV service of the grantee under this chapter.

(Ord. 366 §2, 1978)

A. Any nonexclusive franchise granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall authorize and permit the grantee to engage in the business of operating and providing a CATV system in the county within, and for that purpose, erect, install, construct, repair, replace, reconstruct, maintain and retain in, on, over, under, upon, across and along any public street or highway, such poles, wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, 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 public utility franchised or permitted to do business in the county.

B. The grantee may make a charge to subscribers for connection to its CATV system and a fixed monthly charge as filed and approved as provided in this chapter, for transmission to them only of television and audio programs received free by the public generally at the same time from regularly licensed stations.

(Ord. 366 §3, 1978)

No franchise, granted by the board of supervisors under this chapter, shall be for a term longer than twenty years following the date of acceptance of such franchise by the grantee or the renewal thereof. Any franchise may be terminated prior to its date of expiration by the board of supervisors in the event that the board shall have found, after notice, that (a) the grantee has failed to comply with any provision of this chapter, or has, by act or omission, violated any term or condition of any franchise or permit issued under this chapter; or (b) any provision of this chapter has become invalid or unenforceable, and the county further finds that such provision constitutes a consideration material to the grant of the franchise; provided, however, that the grantee shall be given at least fifteen days' notice of any proposed termination proceedings.

(Ord. 366 §4, 1978)

A. Any grantee granted a franchise under this chapter shall pay to the county, during the life of such franchise, and at the times hereinafter specified, a sum equal to a percentage of the monthly total gross receipts of the grantee, and such payment by the grantee to the county shall be in lieu of any occupation tax, license tax or similar levy, and shall be paid monthly.

B. The grantee shall file with the county, within sixty days after the expiration of any calendar year during which such franchise is in force, a financial statement prepared by a public accountant showing in detail the total gross receipts of grantee, its successors or assigns, during the preceding calendar year. It shall be the duty of grantee to pay to the county within fifteen days after the time for filing such statements, any unpaid balance for the calendar year covered by such statements.

C. The county shall have the right of inspection of the grantee's records showing its gross receipts.

(Ord. 366 §5, 1978)

A. A franchise granted under this chapter shall be nonexclusive.

B. No privilege or exemption shall be granted or conferred by any franchise granted under this chapter except those specifically prescribed in this chapter.

C. Any privilege claimed under such 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. Any such franchise shall be a privilege to be held in personal trust by the original grantee. 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 prior consent of the board of supervisors expressed by ordinance or resolution, and then only under such conditions as may be therein prescribed. The consent of the county may not be arbitrarily refused; provided, however, the proposed assignee must show financial responsibility and must agree to comply with all provisions of this chapter; and provided further, that no such contest shall be required for a transfer, mortgage or other hypothecation as a whole, to secure an indebtedness. Should the grantee be adjudicated a bankrupt or become insolvent, or seek the benefits of any law now or hereafter in effect during the term of the franchise for the financial relief of debtors, the board of supervisors at its election, may immediately terminate all rights granted by the franchise upon service of ten days' written notice by registered or certified mail of such election upon the grantee.

E. The grantee shall have no recourse whatsoever against the county for any loss, cost, expense, or damage, arising out of any provisions or requirements of this chapter or its enforcement.

F. The grantee is subject to all requirements of the county ordinances, rules, regulations and specifications of the county heretofore or hereafter enacted or established including, but not limited to, those concerning street work, street excavations, use, removal and relocation of property within a street, and other street work.

G. No franchise granted under this chapter shall in any way or to any extent impair or affect the rights of the county to acquire the property of the grantee either by purchase or by exercising the right of eminent domain, nor shall any franchise granted under this chapter ever be given any value before any court or other public authority, in any proceedings of any character, in excess of the cost to the grantee of any necessary publication and any other sum paid by it to the count for such franchise at the time of the acquisition thereof.

(Ord. 366 §6, 1978)

There is reserved to the county every right and power which is required under this chapter to be reserved or provided by any ordinance of the county, and the grantee, by its acceptance of any franchise, agrees to be bound thereby and to comply with any action or requirements of the county in its exercise of such right or power, heretofore or hereafter enacted or established.

(Ord. 366 §7, 1978)

The grantee shall proceed with due diligence to obtain all necessary permits and authorizations which are required in the conduct of its business, and to commence construction of its facilities and to render service to its subscribers. Failure of the grantee to proceed with due diligence shall be grounds for termination of the franchise.

(Ord. 366 §8, 1978)

A. Any poles, wires, cable lines, 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 planning director of the county acting in the exercise of his reasonable discretion.

B. The grantee shall not install or erect any facilities or apparatus on public property or rights-of-way within the county (except those installed or erected upon public utility facilities now existing), without written approval of the planning director.

C. In those areas and portions of the county where either the transmission and distribution facilities of the public utility providing telephone service or 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. Amplifiers in grantee's transmission and distribution lines may be in concrete boxes or vaults upon the surface of the ground.

(Ord. 366 §9, 1978)

In the event that the use of any part of the CATV system is discontinued for any reason for a continuous period of twelve months, or in the event such system or property has been installed in any street or public place without complying with the requirements of its franchise, or the franchise has been terminated, cancelled or has expired, the grantee shall promptly, upon being given notice, remove from the streets or public places all such property and poles of such system other than any which the planning director may permit to be abandoned in such place. In the event of any 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 planning director of the county.

(Ord. 366 §10, 1978)

The grantee shall, at its expense, protect, support, temporarily disconnect, relocate in the same street, alley or public place, or remove from the street, alley or public place, any property of the grantee when required by the planning director 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 governmental agencies when acting in a governmental or proprietary capacity, or any other structures or public improvements; provided, however, 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, as provided in Section 5.16.090.

(Ord. 366 §11, 1978)

Upon failure of the grantee to complete any work required by law or by the provisions of this chapter to be done in any street, within the time prescribed, and to the satisfaction of the planning director, the board of supervisors may cause such work to be done and the grantee shall pay to the county the cost thereof in the itemized amounts reported by the planning director to the grantee, within thirty days after receipt of such itemized report.

(Ord. 366 §12, 1978)

The grantee shall at all times during the term of any franchise granted under this chapter, at its own cost and expense, properly and in a good workmanlike manner, install and maintain adequate shielding, filtering and grounding at affected installations within the CATV system to eliminate television interference encountered from fundamental frequency overload by radio amateur transmissions which are in compliance with Federal Communications Commission regulations.

(Ord. 366 §13, 1978)

A. The grantee shall, concurrently with the filing of an acceptance of award of any franchise granted under this chapter, file with the county clerk, and at all times thereafter maintain in full force and effect for the term of such franchise, at grantee's sole expense, a corporate surety bond in a company approved by, and in a form to be approved by, the district attorney, in the amount of ten thousand dollars, renewable annually, and conditioned upon the faithful performance of grantee, and upon the further condition that in the event grantee fails to comply with any one or more of the provisions of this chapter, or of any franchise issued to the grantee under this chapter, there shall be recoverable jointly and severally from the principal and surety of such bond any damages or loss suffered by the county 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 attorney's fees and costs, up to the full amount of the bond; said condition to be a continuing obligation for the duration of such franchise and thereafter until the grantee has liquidated all of its obligations with the county that may have arisen from the acceptance of the franchise by the grantee or from its exercise of any privilege therein granted. The bond shall provide that thirty days' prior written notice of intention not to renew, cancellation, or material change be given to the county.

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

(Ord. 366 §14, 1978)

A. The grantee shall, at all times during the existence of any franchise issued under this chapter, maintain in full force and effect, furnish to the county, and file with the board of supervisors of the county, at its own cost and expense, a general comprehensive liability insurance policy, in protection of the county of Trinity, its officers, boards, commissions, agents and employees, in a company approved by the auditor and in a form satisfactory to the district attorney, protecting the county and all persons against liability for loss or damage for personal injury, death, and property damage, occasioned by the operations of grantee under such franchise, with minimum liability limits of one hundred thousand dollars for personal injury or death of any one person and three hundred thousand dollars for personal injury or death of two or more persons in any one occurrence, and fifty thousand dollars for damage to property resulting from any one occurrence.

B. The policies mentioned in subsection A shall name the county, its officers, boards, commissions, agents and employees, as additional insured and shall contain a provision that a written notice of any cancellation or reduction in coverage of the policy shall be delivered to the county ten days in advance of the effective date thereof; if such insurance is provided in either case by a policy which also covers grantee or any other entity or person than those abovenamed, then such policy shall contain the standard cross-liability endorsement.

C. No franchise granted under this chapter shall be effective unless and until each of the foregoing policies of insurance as required in this section have been delivered to the county.

D. By accepting a franchise the grantee agrees to save and hold harmless the county, its officers, boards, commissions, agents and employees from any and all claims, costs, demands, causes of action, suits, loss, expenses, or other detriment or liability arising from or out of the operations of the grantee under the franchise, or on account of any failure of or defect in the service rendered by the grantee by its subscribers, from any cause whatsoever. The grantee agrees that in all written contracts made between itself and its subscribers a clause shall be inserted to the effect that no municipal corporation or other political subdivision having jurisdiction over the grantee or the grantee's properties is responsible or answerable for any default or omission of the grantee, or for any interruption or interference with the service of the grantee, from any cause whatsoever.

(Ord. 366 §15, 1978)

At all reasonable times, 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 thereto. The grantee shall, at all times, make and keep in the county full and complete plans and records showing the exact location of all CATV system equipment installed or in use in streets, alleys and public places in the county. The grantee shall file with the planning director, on or before the last day in March of each year, a current map or set of maps drawn to scale to be designated by the planning director, showing all CATV system equipment installed in streets, alleys and public places of the county during the previous year.

(Ord. 366 §16, 1978)

This franchise is governed by and subject to all applicable rules, regulations and policies of the Federal Communications Commission, specifically including Part 76, and by the laws of the state. Should there be any modifications of the provisions of Part 76 of the Rules and Regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, specifically including Section 76.31, that must be incorporated into this franchise, the county and grantee agree that such incorporation shall be accomplished within one year after the effective date of the FCC's adoption of the modification or upon renewal of this franchise, whichever occurs first.

(Ord. 366 §17, 1978)

The CATV system shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the highest and best accepted standards of the industry to the effect that subscribers shall receive the highest possible service. In determining the satisfactory extent of such standards the following will apply:

A. The system shall be installed using all-band equipment capable of passing the entire VHF and FM spectrum, and it shall have the further capability of converting UHF for distribution to subscribers on the VHF band.

B. The system, as installed, shall be capable of passing standard color TV signals without the introduction of noticeable effects on color fidelity and intelligence.

C. The system and all equipment shall be designed and rated for twenty-four-hour-per-day continuous operation.

D. Federal Communications Commission standards shall be met or exceeded for signals as delivered to the antenna terminals of the customer's set.

(Ord. 366 §18, 1978)

All matters in this chapter provided to be filed with the county shall be filed with the county clerk unless otherwise specified.

(Ord. 366 §19(a), 1978)

If grantee should fail to operate its system for a period of two years from the date such service begins, the subscribers who have paid installation charges shall be entitled to a refund of the installation charges less 1/24 th of each charge for each month elapsing from the time service was first started to that subscriber and during which time service was available to him.

(Ord. 366 §19(b), 1978)

In the event the Public Utilities Commission of the state or the Federal Communications Commission or any other state or federal agency takes jurisdiction over the operations and rates of the grantee, then the authority of the county to approve rates and charges and to prescribe standards of operations under this franchise shall cease.

(Ord. 366 §19(c), 1978)

The grantee shall maintain an office within the county limits of Trinity County so that CATV maintenance service shall be promptly available to subscribers upon telephone request and not less than twenty-four hours during a week and not less than fortyeight hours on weekends and/or holidays.

(Ord. 366 §19(d), 1978)

The grantee shall not engage directly or indirectly in the business of selling television or other receivers which make use of signals transmitted by its system, nor shall the grantee engage in the repair of such receivers or the sale of parts for the same. If the grantee is a corporation, partnership, or other association of natural persons, this prohibition shall likewise apply to the officers, directors, and employees or agents of the grantee, to general limited partner of any partnership grantee, and to any person or combination of persons who hold or control more than five percent of the corporate stock or other evidence of ownership of the grantee, and shall likewise apply to any affiliated or subsidiary corporation owned or controlled by the grantee or by its officers, directors or stockholders, and shall likewise apply to any corporation or entity which acts in the capacity of a holding company or controlling company of the grantee.

(Ord. 366 19(e), 1978)

The grantee shall deliver to the county, within fifteen days after the franchise grant, a complete schedule showing its installation charges, service charges, and other charges to its subscribers. The board of supervisors shall approve the same if such charges are reasonable in the judgment of the board. All charges provided in such approved schedule shall be subject to change by the grantee upon sixty days' written notice if such charges are reasonable in the judgment of the board.

(Ord. 366 §19(f), 1978)

Whenever any CATV system operated under such franchise shall be converted to UHF distribution, in any manner of distribution, all rates, fees and charges of the grantee for any service provided under such system, and also the service practices of the grantee, shall be subject to regulation by the board of supervisors to the fullest extent allowed by the constitution and laws of the state and the county, unless and until such regulation is granted by competent authority to the jurisdiction of a superior governmental agency.

(Ord. 366 §19(g), 1978)

The grantee shall provide free of charge one service drop and CATV service for all public schools, public law enforcement and fire stations, public hospitals or convalescent homes, public recreation centers, and any additional six municipal buildings designated by the board of supervisors, provided that such locations are passed by transmission cable maintained for the service of paying subscribers. Such facilities shall pay time and material for installation only.

(Ord. 366 §20, 1978)

All franchises for CATV services are subject to the requirements of the laws and regulations of the county and the general laws of the state. The board of supervisors in the granting of any such franchise may impose additional terms and conditions whether or not required by law, and may waive terms and conditions required by the charter and laws of by this chapter when such waiver is not inconsistent with or contrary to the mandatory terms of effective general laws.

(Ord. 366 §21, 1978)

CATV franchises may in any case be granted by ordinance of the board of supervisors as provided in Section 50366 of the Government Code of the state, and such ordinance may incorporate any or all of the terms of this chapter by reference.

(Ord. 366 §22, 1978)

Franchises granted under this chapter are renewable at the application of the grantee, its lawful successors or assignees for such period of time and at such return to the county as the board and the applicant may agree upon by negotiation.

(Ord. 366 §23, 1978)

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to make any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively or otherwise, with any part of grantee's cable television system for the purpose of enabling himself or others to receive any television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs, sounds, or any other information or intelligence transmitted over grantee's cable system without payment to grantee or its lessee.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person, without the consent of the owner, to wilfully tamper with, remove or injure any cable, wires, or other equipment used for the distribution of television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs, sounds or any other information or intelligence transmitted over grantee's cable system.

C. It shall be an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars for any person to violate any of the provisions of this section.

(Ord. 366 §24, 1978)