A. Term. An initial franchise granted hereunder shall be for a term established in the franchise agreement. A renewal shall be granted for a minimum term of fifteen (15) years or a maximum of twenty (20) years.
B. Renewal.
1. A franchise granted hereunder may be renewed if:
a. The grantee has substantially complied with the material terms of the existing franchise and with applicable law;
b. The quality of the grantee's service, including signal quality, response to consumer complaints, and billing practices, but without regard to the mix, level or quality of cable services or other services provided over the system has been reasonable in light of community needs;
c. The grantee has the financial, legal, and technical ability to provide the services, facilities, and equipment set forth in the grantee's proposal; and
d. The grantee's proposal is reasonable to meet the future cable-related community needs and interests, taking into account the cost of meeting such needs and interests. The city may not declare grantee's proposal unreasonable and deny renewal, nor may community needs be established, on the basis of facilities, equipment, or services which another party has indicated it is willing to provide; except, nothing herein shall prohibit city from considering the adequacy or inadequacy of any proposed or requested upgrade of the cable system when determining whether grantee's proposal is reasonable.
2. In any renewal proceeding, the grantee shall be afforded adequate notice and the grantee and the city, or its designee, shall be afforded fair opportunity for full participation, including the right to introduce evidence, to require the production of evidence, and to question witnesses. A transcript shall be made of any such proceeding.
3. A proceeding under this subsection shall be completed within twelve (12) months of its commencement, within which time the city shall issue a written decision granting or denying the proposal for renewal based upon the record of such proceeding, and transmit a copy of such decision to the grantee. Such decision shall state the reasons therefor.
4. Any denial of a proposal for renewal shall be based on one or more adverse findings made with respect to the factors described in subsection (B)(1) of this section, pursuant to the record of the proceeding under subsection B(2) and (3) of this section. Grantor may not base a denial of renewal on a failure to substantially comply with the material terms of the franchise under subsection B(1)(a) or on events considered under subsection B(1)(b) of this section unless the grantor has provided grantee notice and the opportunity to cure as provided in this chapter, or in any case in which grantor has waived its right to object, or the grantee has given grantor written notice of a failure to cure and the grantor fails to object within a reasonable time after receipt of such notice.
5. Grantee is expressly reserved its rights of appeal under federal and state law. In addition to such rights, the franchise shall remain in effect at all times during which a renewal proceeding or appeal remains pending.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (B)(1) through (5) of this section, grantee may submit a proposal for the renewal of a franchise, and grantor may, after affording the public adequate notice and opportunity for comment, grant or deny such proposal at any time (including after proceedings pursuant to this section have commenced). The provisions of subsections (B)(1) through (B)(5) of this section shall not apply to a decision to grant or deny a proposal under this subsection. The denial of a renewal pursuant to this subsection shall not affect action on a renewal proposal that is submitted in accordance with subsections (B)(1) through (5) of this section.
C. City may not, upon the expiration of this franchise, or otherwise, acquire an ownership interest in the system, or require a sale of the system to any other person, unless city or such other person acquires the ownership interest at not less than fair market value for the system as a going concern without allocating a value to the franchise itself. (Ord. 9527 § 1 (part), 1995: prior code § 3803)