The Grantee shall be subject to the following terms and conditions during the term of the franchise granted hereunder:
1. Service Requirements. The Grantee shall furnish reasonable, adequate and efficient gas and electric service to the residents of the City and shall maintain its system in reasonable repair and working order and provide adequate facilities for such maintenance. Nothing in this section shall require the Grantee to provide gas and electric service unless the services requested are reasonably within its range of performance and there is a reasonable expectation that the consumption of gas and electricity will warrant the necessary expenditure.
2. Installation and Maintenance of Service Facilities. The Grantee's plant and equipment, including all transmission lines and other distribution facilities, shall be installed in accordance with good engineering practices and shall be located, erected, constructed, reconstructed, replaced, removed, repaired, maintained and operated so as not to endanger or interfere with the lives of persons, or to unnecessarily hinder or obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic to public ways, places and structures. The erection, installation, construction, replacement, removal, repair, maintenance and operation of the gas and electric system shall be in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and codes of the State and application ordinances, regulations and codes of the City.
3. Transmission and Distribution Facilities - General Location Requirements. All transmission and distribution structures, lines and equipment erected by the Grantee within the City shall be located as to cause minimum interference with the proper use of streets, alleys and other public ways and places, and to cause minimum interference with the rights or reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the said streets, alleys or other public ways and places.
4. Conditions for Use and Occupancy of City Rights-of-Way and Utility Easements. The Grantee shall be allowed to use and occupy the City rights-of-way for the emplacement of its equipment; provided, however, Grantee shall be required to use subdivision utility easements to the extent such easements provide for the construction and operation of gas and electric equipment therein. Further provided, in such use and occupancy of City rights-of-way and subdivisions utility easements, Grantee shall be subject to all generally applicable City ordinances and obligations therein including, but not limited to, those provisions of this Code of Ordinances regulating the use and occupancy of such rights-of-way, pertaining to excavations and pertaining to streets and sidewalks, and further provided that Grantee shall not construct any plant or system equipment until Grantee has secured the necessary permits from the City, or other applicable governmental authorities.
5. Grantee’s Duty to Restore Ground Surface. In case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk, driveway, or other surfacing, the Grantee shall at its own cost and expense and in a manner approved by the City Engineer, replace and restore all sod, paving, sidewalk, driveway or surface of any street or alley disturbed in as good a condition as before said work was commenced.
6. Alteration of Grade. If at any time the City elects to alter or change the grade of any street, alley or public way, and such alteration requires the relocation of Grantee’s facilities located along, upon, across and under the streets, highways, avenues, alleys, bridges and public places of the City, the Grantee, upon reasonable notice by the City, shall remove, relay and relocate its poles, wires, cable, underground conduits, manholes, or other distribution fixtures at its own expense.
7. Street Obstructions. Any opening or obstruction in the streets or other public ways made by the Grantee in the course of its operation, pursuant to the authority granted hereunder, shall be guarded and protected at all times by the placement of adequate barriers, fences or boarding, the bounds of which during periods of dusk and darkness shall be clearly designated by warning lights.
8. Mapping Data. Grantee shall provide to the City Engineer information indicating the horizontal and approximate vertical location, relative to the boundaries of the right-of-way, of all equipment which it owns or over which it has control and which is located in any right-of-way. Mapping data shall be provided with the specificity and in the format requested by the City Engineer for inclusion in the mapping system used by the City Engineer. Grantee shall submit complete and accurate mapping data for all of its equipment at the time any permit is sought. Within six (6) months of the acquisition, installation or construction of additional equipment or any relocation, abandonment or disuse of existing equipment, the Grantee shall supplement the mapping information required herein.
9. Insurance Requirements. The Grantee shall purchase and maintain insurance to protect the Grantee and the City throughout the duration of the franchise. Said insurance shall be provided by insurance companies approved by the insurance commissioner of the State of Iowa and having no less than an A.M. Best rating of “A-.” All policies shall be written on a per-occurrence basis, not a claims-made basis, and in form and amounts and with companies satisfactory to the City. Certificates of Insurance confirming required insurance coverage shall be submitted to the City prior to contract execution or commencement of work and/or services.
A. Worker’s Compensation Insurance. The Grantee shall procure and maintain during the life of the franchise, Worker’s Compensation Insurance, including Employer’s Liability Coverage, in accordance with all applicable statutes of the State of Iowa. The coverage limits shall include $500,000 each accident for Bodily Injury by Accident, $500,000 each accident for Bodily Injury by Disease, and $500,000 policy limit for Bodily Injury by Disease.
B. Commercial General Liability Insurance. The Grantee shall procure and maintain during the life of this Franchise, Commercial General Liability insurance on a per occurrence basis with limits of liability not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate combined single limit; Personal Injury, Bodily Injury, and Property Damage. Coverage shall include the following extensions: (a) Contractual Liability, (b) Premises and Operations, (c) Products and Completed Operations, (d) Independent Contractors Coverage, (e) Personal and Advertising Injury, and (f) Explosion, Collapse and Underground (XCU), where applicable. Coverage shall be no less comprehensive and no more restrictive than the coverage provided by a standard form Commercial General Liability Policy (ISO CG 00 0110 93) with standard exclusions. Any additional exclusions shall be clearly identified on the Certificate of Insurance and shall be subject to the review and approval of the City. The policy shall be endorsed to provide an Aggregate Per Location/Project Endorsement.
C. Automobile Liability Insurance. The Grantee shall procure and maintain during the life of this Franchise, Automobile Liability Insurance with limits of liability of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence combined single limit including Bodily Injury and Property Damage. Coverage shall include all owned vehicles, all non-owned vehicles, and all hired vehicles.
D. Umbrella/Excess Insurance. The coverage specified in B and C above may be satisfied with a combination of primary and Umbrella/Excess Insurance. The Umbrella/Excess Insurance shall also be written on a per-occurrence basis and shall include the same endorsement as required of the primary policies.
E. Insurance for Other Losses. The Grantee shall assume, during the life of the franchise, full responsibility for all loss or damage from any cause whatsoever to any property brought onto City property that is owned or rented by the Grantee, or by any of the Grantee’s employees, agents, subcontractors, suppliers or their employees, to the extent that such property is utilized in carrying out the provisions of the Franchise. The Grantee shall cause its insurance carrier providing physical damage insurance to the Grantee, to provide a waiver of the right of subrogation against the City.
F. Changes in Coverage, Limits, Endorsements, and Terms. The City reserves the right to change the required coverage and the limits associated with coverage described in A, B, C and D above. The City Manager shall annually review and modify, as the City deems necessary, any coverage, limits, endorsements, and terms. Such changes shall be based on then-current insurance industry practices and procedures.
G. Subcontractors. The Grantee shall require that any of its agents and subcontractors who perform work and/or services pursuant to the provisions of the Franchise meet the same insurance requirements as are required of the Grantee.
H. Proof of Insurance. The Grantee shall provide to and maintain on a current basis with the City Certificates of Insurance evidencing all required insurance coverage as provided in A through D above utilizing the latest version of the ACORD form. Any deductible or self-insured retention must be disclosed on the face of the Certificate of Insurance and must be accepted by the City. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Grantee agrees to defend, pay on behalf of, indemnify, and hold harmless the City, its elected and appointed officials, employees, volunteers, and others working on behalf of the City against any and all claims, demands, suits, or loss, including any and all outlay and expense connected therewith, and for any damages which may be asserted, claimed, or recovered against or from the City, its elected and appointed officials, employees, volunteers, or others working on behalf of the City, by reason of personal injury, including bodily injury or death, and property damages, including loss of use thereof which arises out of or is in any way connected or associated with the work and/or services provided by the Grantee pursuant to the provisions of the Franchise. It is the intention of the parties that the City, its elected and appointed officials, employees, volunteers, or others working on behalf of the City shall not be liable or in any way responsible for injury, damage, liability, loss, or expense resulting to the Grantee, its officers, employees, subcontractors, and others affiliated with the Grantee due to accidents, mishaps, misconduct, negligence, or injuries either in person or property caused by the work and/or services performed by the Grantee under the Franchise. The Grantee expressly agrees to pay the City for all damages caused to the City’s premises resulting from the activities of the Grantee, its officers, employees, subcontractors, and others affiliated with the Grantee. The indemnification obligations of Grantee are not limited in any way by the amount or type of damages or compensation payable by or for Grantee under Worker’s Compensation, disability, or other employee benefit acts, acceptance of insurance certificates required under this chapter, or the terms, applicability, or limitations of any insurance held by Grantee. The City does not, and shall not, waive any rights against Grantee which it may have by reasons of the indemnification provided for in this Agreement, because of the acceptance by the City, or the deposit with the City by Grantee, of any of the insurance policies described in this Agreement. The requirements of indemnification shall not be a waiver of any right that the City would have to assert defenses on its own behalf under state or federal law. The Grantee’s indemnification obligations under this Agreement shall survive the expiration, cancellation, or termination of this Agreement. To the extent permitted by law, the Grantee hereby releases the City, its elected and appointed officials, employees, volunteers, and others working on behalf of the City, from any and all liability or responsibility to the Grantee or anyone claiming through or under the Grantee by way of subrogation or otherwise, for any loss or damage to property caused by fire or other casualty, even if such fire or other casualty shall have been caused by the fault or negligence of the City, its elected and appointed officials, employees, volunteers, or others working on behalf of the City. This provision shall be applicable and in full force and effect only with respect to loss or damages occurring during the time of the Grantee’s occupancy or use, and Grantee’s policies of insurance shall contain a clause or endorsement to the effect that such release shall not adversely affect or impair such policies or prejudice the right of the Grantee to recover thereunder. If, during the term of this franchise ordinance, there shall be enacted by the Iowa General Assembly a valid taxing statute authorizing the City to collect a tax on the gas and electric revenue received by Grantee from its customers in the City, then if such tax is levied by the City, said Grantee will include, subject to the approval of the Iowa State Commerce Commission, such tax as a separate item on bills to its customer within the City, and remit the sums collected to the City under the terms and provisions of such enacted statute.