(A) The town shall regulate the providing of cable television services and equipment to the full extent permitted by applicable authority in a manner which shall not illegally discriminate and is in accordance with the requirements of due process.
(B) The town hereby adopts and shall hereafter follow the Federal Communications Commission’s regulations as prescribed in the Report and Order in the Matter of Implementation of Sections of Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992: Rate Regulation, MM Docket 92-266, FCC 93-177 (released May 3, 1993), as those regulations are now in force, and as they may hereafter be amended, modified and/or supplemented, and any provision of this section or the town’s regulations which are now or in the future not in compliance with then applicable authority, including, but not limited to, the aforesaid FCC regulations, shall be deemed amended to the extent necessary to come within the requirements of that authority, which amendment shall not affect the validity or enforcement of the remainder of the ordinances and/or regulations of the town.
(C) Before making a final decision on a matter which the Town Council believes to be of particular material consequence and general interest with regard to the regulation of cable television service within the town, the Town Council shall conduct a public hearing in accordance with the provisions of state law for those hearings. At each hearing, a reasonable opportunity shall be provided for consideration of the views of interested parties.
(D) In requesting and utilizing information provided by a cable operator, the town shall not disclose to the public or others without a “need to know” as a part of this process, any of that information which that operator has certified in writing as proprietary or constituting a trade secret of that operator; provided however, the town reserves the right to require the operator to reasonably validate any claim of proprietary interest or trade secret, and the claims as are found to be without foundation by the town shall be considered by the town in evaluating whether that cable operator would misrepresent as to other matters.
(E) The person who holds the position of Clerk-Treasurer of the town from time to time is hereby designated as the Cable Television Administrator. That Administrator is hereby granted full authority to act as the authorized agent of the town to act for and on behalf of the town, and do all things which that Administrator determines to be appropriate, to implement cable television regulation in accordance with applicable authority, excepting as herein expressly reserved pursuant to division (F) below.
(F) To the full extent permitted by applicable law, the Town Council shall:
(1) Adopt, and from time to time thereafter modify, regulations governing charges for basic cable equipment and services for the town;
(2) Conduct those public hearings required by division (C) above and other applicable authority;
(3) Finally approve or disapprove of cable television franchise agreements and proposed modifications thereof;
(4) Finally approve or disapprove of the rates and charges of franchised cable television operators within the town;
(5) Order rate reductions and/or rollbacks where appropriate;
(6) Authorize and direct filings and proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission in the name of the town as may be appropriate;
(7) Authorize and direct enforcement of applicable customer service standards of cable television operators before courts or other third party decision makers; and
(8) Perform all other acts which, as a matter of law, may not be delegated by the Council.
(Prior Code, § 175.03) (Ord. 1993-10, passed 10-11-1993; Ord. 1993-13, passed 11-22-1993)