(a) Generally. A PEG access facility management entity shall have the power to:
(1) produce programs for and manage public access facilities;
(2) ensure that public access facilities are made available to all residents of the franchise area on a nondiscriminatory first-come, first-served basis;
(3) ensure no censorship or control over program content of the public access facilities except as necessary to comply with prohibition of material that is illegal;
(4) devise, establish, and administer all regulations and procedures pertaining to the use and scheduling of the PEG access facilities;
(5) prepare reports on public access operations;
(6) hire and supervise staff;
(7) make all required purchases of materials and equipment;
(8) develop sources of funding, such as foundation or federal or State grants;
(9) further community programming;
(10) establish budgets on an annual basis to utilize funds and resources for the purpose of PEG access programming; and
(11) perform any other appropriate functions relevant to PEG access channels.
(b) Delegation of County duties. The County may delegate to the PEG access facility management entity the duty to:
(1) receive and utilize or reallocate for utilization channel capacity, facilities, support funding, and other resources provided by the County, by the franchisees pursuant to their franchises, and by others for public use of the cable system;
(2) report to the County annually on the utilization of resources, the new public services developed, and the benefits achieved for the County and its residents.
(c) Regulations for use of PEG access facilities. A PEG access facility management entity shall prepare regulations for the use of its access facilities, and the entity shall promptly forward them to the County. At a minimum, the regulations shall provide for:
(1) access on a first-come, first-served nondiscriminatory basis for all residents of the franchise area;
(2) prohibition of commercial use by public access programming producers;
(3) prohibition of the presentation of obscene material;
(4) public inspection of the log of producers, which shall be retained by the PEG access facility management entity for a period of four years;
(5) procedures by which individuals or groups who violate any rule may be prevented from further access to the facilities; and
(6) use of reasonable amounts of channel time, system facilities, and technical support as are provided for in the agreement between the PEG access facility management entity and the franchisees.
(d) Annual report. A PEG access facility management entity shall provide a report to the County at least annually that indicates achievements in community-based programming and services.
(Bill No. 54-06)