Turlock Municipal Code Art. 6 Regulation Of Franchise

The grantor shall exercise regulatory authority under the provisions of this chapter and applicable law. If the franchise area served by the cable communications system also serves other contiguous or neighboring communities, grantor may, at its sole option, participate in a joint regulatory agency, with delegated responsibility in the area of cable and related communications.

The grantor, acting alone or acting jointly with other grantors, may exercise or delegate the following regulatory responsibility:

(a) Administering and enforcing the provisions of the cable communications system franchise(s);

(b) Coordination of the operation of public, educational and governmental (PEG) access channel and facilities;

(c) Providing technical, programming and operational support to public agency users, such as government departments, schools and health care institutions;

(d) Establishing jointly with the grantee, or as otherwise specified in the franchise agreement, procedures and standards for use of channels dedicated to public use and sharing of public facilities, if provided for in any franchise agreement;

(e) Planning expansion and growth of public benefit cable services;

(f) Analyzing the possibility of integrating cable communications with other local, State or national telecommunications networks;

(g) Formulating and recommending long-range telecommunications policy.

If so specified in the franchise agreement, the grantor may utilize a portion of the cable communications system capacity, and associated facilities and resources, to develop and provide noncommercial cable services that will be in the public interest. In furtherance of this purpose, the grantor may establish a commission, public corporation, or other entity to receive and allocate facilities, support funds and other considerations provided by the grantor, the grantee, and/or others. Such an entity, if established, may be delegated the following responsibilities:

(a) Receive and utilize or reallocate for utilization, channel capacity, facilities, funding and other support provided specifically for public usage of the cable communications system;

(b) Review the status and progress of each service developed for public benefit;

(c) Reallocate resources jointly with the grantee on a periodic basis to conform with changing priorities and public needs;

(d) Report to the grantor and the grantee annually on the utilization of resources, the new public services developed and the benefits achieved for the grantor and its residents.

The entity shall provide a report to the grantor and the grantee, at least annually, indicating achievements in community-based programming and services.

The grantor reserves the right, at its discretion, from time to time, to determine if the entity described in Section 3-8-603 above is performing its purposes in a manner satisfactory to the grantor, and if not, the grantor may receive and reallocate all or a portion of the channel capacity, operations appropriation, and capital appropriation, including any facilities and equipment purchased previously with such appropriation, to another entity.

The grantee shall establish rates for its services that must be applied fairly and uniformly to all subscribers in the franchise area. The grantor retains the right to regulate rates to the extent permitted by applicable law, and to reinstitute rate regulation if any existing preemption is eliminated in the future.

At grantor's sole option, within ninety (90) days of the first anniversary of the effective date of each franchise, and each year thereafter throughout the term of the franchise, the grantor may hold a public hearing at which the grantee shall be present and shall participate, to review the performance and quality of service of the cable communications system. The reports required in Article 15 of this chapter regarding subscriber complaints, the records of performance tests and the opinion survey report shall be utilized as the basis for review. In addition, any subscriber may submit comments or complaints during the review meetings, either orally or in writing, and these shall be considered.

(a) Within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the public hearing, grantor shall issue a report with respect to the adequacy of system performance and quality of service. If inadequacies are found, grantor may direct grantee to correct the inadequacies within a reasonable period of time.

(b) Failure of grantee, after due notice, to correct the inadequacies shall be considered a breach of the franchise, and grantor may, at its sole discretion, exercise any remedy within the scope of this chapter considered appropriate.

To provide for technological, economic, and regulatory changes in the state of the art of cable communications, to facilitate renewal procedures, to promote the maximum degree of flexibility in the cable system, and to achieve a continuing, advanced modern system, the following system and services review procedures are hereby established:

(a) At grantor's sole option, the grantor may hold a public hearing on or about the third anniversary date of the franchise agreement at which the grantee shall be present and shall participate, to review the cable communications system and services. Subsequent system and services review hearings may be scheduled by the grantor each three (3) years thereafter.

(b) Sixty (60) days prior to the scheduled system and services review hearing, grantee shall submit a report to grantor indicating the following:

(1) All cable system services reported in cable industry trade journals that are being commonly provided on an operational basis, excluding tests and demonstrations, to communities in the United States with comparable populations, that are not provided to the grantor;

(2) Any specific plans for provision of such new services by the grantee, or a justification indicating why grantee believes that such services are not feasible for the franchise area.

(c) Topics for discussion and review at the system and services review hearing shall include but shall not be limited to, services provided, feasibility of providing new services, application of new technologies, system performance, programming, subscriber complaints, user complaints, rights or privacy, amendments to the franchise, undergrounding processes, developments in the law, and regulatory constraints.

(d) Either the grantor or the grantee may select additional topics for discussion at any review hearing.

(e) Not later than sixty (60) days after the conclusion of each system and service review hearing, grantor shall issue a report, including specifically a listing of any cable services not then being provided to the grantor that are considered technically and economically feasible. Grantor may request grantee to provide such services within a reasonable time, under reasonable rates and conditions.