West Sacramento Municipal Code Art. I Generally

A. Within thirty days after the acceptance of a franchise, the grantee shall proceed with due diligence to obtain all necessary permits and authorizations which are required in the conduct of its business, including, but not limited to, any utility joint use attachment agreements, encroachment permits, microwave carrier licenses and any other permits, licenses and authorizations to be granted by duly constituted regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the operation of cable television/communications systems or associated microwave transmission facilities.

B. In connection with subsection A of this section, copies of all petitions, applications and communications submitted by the grantee to the Federal Communications Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission or any other federal or state regulatory commission or agency having jurisdiction in respect to any matters affecting the grantee's cable communications operations, and any and all actions taken thereon by each commission or agency, shall also be submitted simultaneously to the city manager. Upon determining that the grantee has obtained all necessary permits, licenses and authorizations, including rights of access to poles and conduits, the city manager shall issue the notice to proceed.

C. The city shall be authorized to establish special fees payable by a grantee to defray the costs incurred by the city public works department in supervising and regulating the installation of a cable communications system within the streets of the respective agencies. The public works director shall be authorized to formulate reasonable schedules for the installation of a cable communications system within the streets of the city for the purpose of promoting safety, reducing inconvenience to the public and ensuring adequate restoration and repair of the streets, and a grantee and its officers, agents, contractors and subcontractors shall comply with any and all such schedules.

(County code § 11-1.1001)

A. Within thirty days after the issuance of a notice to proceed the grantee shall commence the construction and installation of the cable communications system.

B. Within one hundred eighty days after the commencement of the construction and installation of the system, the grantee shall proceed to render service to subscribers, and the completion of the installation and construction shall be pursued with reasonable diligence thereafter so that service to all of the areas designated and scheduled on the map and plan of construction made a part of the franchise shall be provided as set forth in this chapter.

C. The construction and installation of the cable communications system shall be complete and ready for the issuance of a final order of completion in accordance with Section 4.12.010 at the time set forth in the ordinance offering a franchise.

D. Failure on the part of the grantee to commence and diligently pursue each of the requirements of this section and to complete each of the matters set forth in this section shall be grounds for the termination of such franchise. By resolution, the city council, in its discretion may extend the time for the commencement and completion of the installation and construction for additional periods in the event the grantee, acting in good faith, experiences delays by reason of circumstances beyond his or her control.

E. The city shall have the right, free of charge, to make additional use for any public or municipal purpose, whether governmental or proprietary, of any poles, conduits or other similar facilities erected, controlled or maintained exclusively by or for the grantee in any street provided such use by the city does not interfere with the use by the grantee.

(County code § 11-1.1002)

A. No franchise shall expressly or impliedly authorize the grantee to construct or install poles or wire-holding structures within streets for the purpose of placing cables, wires, lines or otherwise without the written consent of the city. Such consent shall be given or withheld in the sole discretion of the city and may be given upon such terms and conditions as the city, in its sole discretion, may prescribe, which shall include a requirement that the grantee perform, at its sole expense, all tree trimming required to maintain the poles clear of obstructions.

B. With respect to any poles or wire-holding structures which a grantee is authorized to construct and install within streets, the city reserves the privilege of utilizing such poles or wire-holding structures, if such use would enhance the public convenience and would not unduly interfere with the grantee's operations, with the condition that the city, public utility or public utility district pay to the grantee any or all actual and necessary costs incurred by the grantee in permitting such use.

(County code § 11-1.1003)

A. Unless otherwise authorized by the city council, in those areas and portions of the city where transmission and/or distribution facilities of the public utility providing telephone service, and those of the utility providing electric service, are underground or hereafter may be placed underground or are to be placed underground by a builder, developer or subdivider as a part of a development or subdivision, then the grantee shall likewise construct, operate and maintain all of its transmission and distribution facilities underground to the maximum extent that existing technology reasonably permits the grantee to do so.

B. In new developments or subdivisions, the builder, developer or subdivider shall be responsible for the performance of all necessary trenching and backfilling of main line and service trenches, including the furnishing of any imported backfill material required. The grantee shall be responsible for the conduct of the engineering and labor to put the cable conduit in the trench. Prewiring of new dwellings to franchise specifications while under construction shall be mandatory. The grantee shall be responsible for pulling in the cable and providing the plant electronics and drops to individual homes after occupancy.

C. In those areas and portions of the city where utility service facilities are currently located underground, the grantee shall be responsible for the undergrounding of cable facilities, including the performance of all necessary trenching, and the furnishing of any imported backfill material required.

D. Previously installed aerial cable shall be undergrounded in concert, and on a cost-sharing basis, with other utilities pursuant to the general laws of the city or applicable state laws or in the event such action shall be taken by all other utilities on a voluntary basis.

E. Subject to approval by the city council, incidental appurtenances, such as amplifier boxes and pedestal-mounted terminal boxes, may be placed aboveground but shall be of such size and design and shall be so located as not to be unsightly or hazardous to the public.

(County code § 11-1.1004)

A. The grantee shall be required to extend the subscriber network and, upon an order by the city, the institutional network to any new developments or general areas within the imposed service area and is authorized to do so within the remainder of the franchise area pursuant to the following requirements:

1. The grantee shall extend and make cable communications service available to every dwelling unit within any area reaching the minimum density of at least forty dwelling units per street mile or five dwelling units within six hundred sixty feet, as measured from existing feeder cable;

2. The grantee shall extend and make cable communications service available to every dwelling unit in all unserved, developing areas having at least forty dwelling units planned per street mile, as measured from the existing system, and shall extend its system simultaneously with the installation of utility lines;

3. The grantee shall extend and make cable communications service available to any isolated resident requesting a connection at the standard connection charge if the connection to the isolated resident would require no more than a standard one hundred fifty foot aerial drop line;

4. With respect to requests for connections requiring an aerial drop line in excess of one hundred fifty feet, the grantee shall extend and make available cable television service to such residents at a connection charge not to exceed the actual installation costs incurred by the grantee for the distance exceeding one hundred fifty feet;

5. Whenever the grantee shall have received written requests for services from at least fifteen assured subscribers within one thousand three hundred cable feet of its aerial trunk cable, the grantee shall extend its system to such subscribers solely for the usual connection and service fees for all subscribers, provided such extension is technically and economically feasible. The one thousand three hundred cable feet shall be measured in extension length of the grantee's cable required for service located within a public way or easement and shall not include the length of necessary drop to the subscriber's house or premises.

B. Nothing set forth in this section shall be construed to prevent the grantee from serving areas not covered by this section upon an agreement with developers, property owners or residents.

C. Any violation of this section shall be considered a breach of the terms of this title.

(County code § 11-1.1005)

A. Each cable communications system, including wires and appurtenances, shall be located and installed and maintained so that none of the facilities endanger or interfere with the lives or safety of persons or interfere with any improvements the city or state may deem proper to make or unnecessarily hinder or obstruct the free use of the streets or other public property.

B. All transmission and distribution structures, lines and equipment erected or installed by a grantee within the city shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper use of streets and other public property and to cause minimum interference with the rights and reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the streets or other public property.

(County code § 11-1.1006)

A. All disturbances by the grantee of pavement, sidewalks, driveways, landscaping or other surfacing of streets shall be restored, repaired or replaced by the grantee at its sole cost in a manner approved by the public works director and in compliance with generally applicable standards of the agency vested with jurisdiction thereover, and in as good condition as before the disturbance occurred.

B. To the extent practicable and reasonable, each grantee shall accommodate the desires of any property owner respecting location within easements or rights-of-way traversing private appurtenances constituting a part of the cable communications system. Any disturbance of landscaping, fencing or other improvements upon private property, including private property traversed by easements or rights-of-way utilized by a grantee, at the sole expense of the grantee, shall be promptly repaired or restored (including the replacement of such valuables as shrubbery and fencing) to the reasonable satisfaction of the property owner as soon as possible. Each grantee, through authorized representatives, shall make a reasonable attempt to personally contact the occupants of all private property in advance of entering such property for the purpose of commencing any installation of elements of the system within the easements or rights-of-way traversing such property. As used in this subsection, the terms "easements" and "rights-of-way" shall not include easements or rights-of-way for roadway purposes.

(County code § 11-1.1007)

A. Upon any failure of the grantee to commence, pursue or complete any work required by it by law or by the provisions of a franchise to be done in any street, the city council, at its option and according to law, may cause such work to be done, and the grantee shall pay to the city the cost thereof in the itemized amounts reported by the city council to the grantee within thirty days after the receipt of such itemized report.

B. In the event that:

1. Any part of such system has been installed in any street or other area without complying with the requirements of this title and/or the franchise ordinance; or

2. The use of any part of the system of the grantee is discontinued for any reason for a continuous period of thirty days without prior written notice to and approval by the city; then the grantee, at the option of the city, and at the expense of the grantee and at no expense to the city, and upon the demand of the city, shall promptly remove from any street or other area all property of the grantee, and the grantee shall promptly restore the street or other area from which such property has been removed to such condition as the public works director shall approve.

(County code § 11-1.1008)

If during the term of a franchise the city, a community services district, a city service area, a reclamation district, a public drainage district or any other special public district elects to alter, repair, realign, abandon, improve, vacate, reroute or change the grade of any street or to replace, repair, install, maintain or otherwise alter any aboveground to underground cable, wire, conduit, pipe, line, pole, wire-holding structure, structure or other facility utilized for the provision of utility or other services or the transportation of drainage, sewage or other liquids, the grantee, except as otherwise provided in this section, at its sole expense, shall remove or relocate as necessary its poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes and any other facilities which the grantee has installed. If such removal or relocation is required within a subdivision in which all utility lines, including those for the cable communications system, were installed at the same time, the entities may decide among themselves who is to bear the cost of relocation; provided, however, the city shall not be liable to a grantee for such costs. Regardless of who bears the costs, a grantee shall take action to remove or relocate at such time or times as are directed by the agency or company undertaking the work. Reasonable advance written notice shall be mailed to the grantee advising the grantee of the date or dates removal or relocation is to be undertaken.

(County code § 11-1.1009)

The grantee shall not remove or trim, and shall prohibit any officer, agent, employee, contractor or subcontractor which it retains from removing or trimming any tree or portion thereof (either above, at or below ground levels) which is located within a street, unless the removal or trimming is done in accordance with a specific tree trimming plan or general tree trimming policy which has the prior written approval of the city public works director. Such approval may be given or withheld upon such terms and conditions as the city public works director deems appropriate. Any such plan or policy shall set forth standards governing tree trimming/removal and shall provide for regulating in special circumstances, including actions taken in violation of the plan or policy. Each grantee shall be responsible for and shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the city and its officers, agents and employees, from and against any and all damages arising out of or resulting from the removal, trimming, mutilation of or any injury to any tree proximately caused by the grantee or its officers, agents, employees, contractors or subcontractors.

(County code § 11-1.1010)

Each grantee, upon a request by any person holding a building moving permit, license or other approval issued by the city or state, shall temporarily remove, raise or lower its wires to permit the movement of buildings. The expense of such removal, raising or lowering shall be paid by the person requesting the same, and a grantee shall be authorized to require such payment in advance. A grantee shall be given not less than forty-eight hours' oral or written notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes.

(County code § 11-1.1011)

A. Upon the expiration or termination of a franchise, if the franchise is not renewed and if neither the city nor an assignee purchases the cable communications system, the grantee may remove any underground cable from the streets without trenching or other opening of the streets along the extension of cable to be removed. The grantee shall not remove any underground cable or conduit which requires trenching or other opening of the streets along the extension of cable to be removed, except as provided in this section. The grantee shall remove, at its sole cost and expense, any undergrounded cable or conduit by trenching or opening the streets along the extension thereof or otherwise which is ordered to be removed by the city council based upon a determination, in the sole discretion of the city council, that removal is required in order to eliminate or prevent a hazardous condition or promote future utilization of the streets for public purposes. Any order by the city council to remove cable or conduit shall be mailed to the grantee not later than ninety calendar days following the date of the expiration of the franchise. A grantee shall file written notice with the city clerk not later than sixty calendar days following the date of the expiration or termination of the franchise of its intention to remove cable authorized by this section to be removed. The notice shall specify the location of all cable intended to be removed and a schedule for removal by location. The schedule and timing of removal shall be subject to approval and regulation by the city public works director. Removal shall be completed not later than twelve months following the date of the expiration or termination of the franchise. Underground cable and conduit in the streets which are not removed shall be deemed abandoned, and title thereto shall be vested in the city.

B. Upon the expiration or termination of a franchise, if the franchise is not renewed and if neither the city nor an assignee purchases the system, the grantee, at its sole expense, unless relieved of the obligation by the city, shall remove from the streets all aboveground elements of the cable communications system, including, but not limited to, amplifier boxes, pedestal-mounted terminal boxes and cable attached to or suspended from poles which are not purchased by the city or its assignee.

C. The grantee shall apply for and obtain such encroachment permits, licenses, authorizations or other approvals and pay such fees and deposit such security as required by applicable general laws of the city, shall conduct and complete the work of removal in compliance with all such applicable laws, and shall restore the streets to the same condition they were in before the work of removal commenced. The work of removal shall be completed not later than one year following the date of the expiration of the franchise.

(County code § 11-1.1012)

A. In the event the use of any franchise property is permanently discontinued or no franchise has been obtained therefor, upon the expiration of or within twelve months after any termination of a franchise, the grantee shall promptly remove from the streets all property involved, other than any the city council, at its sole option, may permit to be abandoned in place.

B. A permit to abandon in place shall first be obtained from the city public works director. Nothing set forth in this section shall be deemed a taking of the property of the grantee, and the grantee shall be entitled to no surcharge by reason of anything set forth in this section.

C. Franchise property to be abandoned in place shall be abandoned in such manner as the city council shall prescribe. Upon the abandonment of any franchise property in place, the grantee shall submit to the city council an instrument, satisfactory to the city attorney, transferring to the city the ownership of such property.

(County code § 11-1.1013)

Throughout the life of a grantee's franchise, and in addition to other service regulations adopted by the city council, and excepting circumstances beyond the grantee's control, such as acts of God, riots and civil disturbances, and in providing such services, a grantee shall:

A. Maintain all parts of its system in good condition and in accordance with standards generally observed by the cable television industry. The system shall serve individual residents, but also serve as a broad based communications source for city government, other public facilities, including hospitals, public libraries and schools, and industrial and commercial business users;

B. Retain sufficient employees to provide safe, adequate and prompt service for all such residential subscribers, institutional facilities and business users; and

C. List system failures to minimum time duration by locating and correcting malfunctioning as promptly as is reasonably possible, irrespective of holidays or other nonbusiness hours.

(County code § 11-1.1014)