(A) The county shall have the following regulatory responsibility:
(1) Administration and enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and any franchise granted hereunder to the full extent necessary to assure compliance with the chapter and the franchise agreement;
(2) Award, renewal, extension or termination of a franchise pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the franchise and other applicable law;
(3) Consent prior to transfer of any franchise granted hereunder; and
(4) Rate and service regulation, if applicable.
(B) The county also reserves the right to perform the following functions:
(1) Develop objectives and coordinate activities related to the operation of government access channels;
(2) Approve procedures and standards for public, educational and government access operations and services, including the use of dedicated channels and sharing of public facilities;
(3) Coordinate plans for expansion, interconnection and growth of cable services;
(4) Analyze the possibility of integrating cable communications with other county, state or regional cable television networks;
(5) Formulate and recommend long-range cable television policy for the county and determine the county's view of the future cable-related needs and interests of the community;
(6) Conduct performance evaluations of the grantee and provide the administrative effort necessary for the conduct of performance evaluations and any other activities required for the administration of the franchise;
(7) Monitor grantee's process for handling citizen complaints and periodically inspect and analyze the records related to the complaints;
(8) Receive applications for rate increases, if applicable, and provide staff assistance in the analysis and recommendations thereto;
(9) Monitor grantee's adherence to FCC operational standards, service requirements and line extension policies;
(10) Assure compliance with applicable laws and ordinances;
(11) Coordinate with the local cable operator before conducting tests and analysis of equipment and performance, as needed to insure compliance with this chapter and the franchise;
(12) Assure continuity in service; and
(13) Receive for examination all data and reports required by this chapter.
(C) The county may, in its discretion, establish a cable advisory committee. The duties of this Committee may be reposed in an existing committee. The responsibilities of the Committee shall include, but not be limited to the following:
(1) Monitor and advise the Board and county administration on the provisions of this chapter and related ordinances;
(2) Serve as an advisory body for the public, educational and governmental access channels of cable television and any institutional programming that may be developed;
(3) Advise the county government of objectives to be obtained in the county's system based upon its continued evaluation of the county's cable television franchise, cable technology and the future cable-related needs and interests of the community;
(4) Prepare an annual report to the Board; and
(5) Cooperate with the county and the grantee in fulfilling its responsibilities herein.
(D) Upon the request of the county, the grantee shall interconnect its system, for the purpose of sharing public, education or government access channels with any other like cable television facility operating in the county, when technically and economically feasible. The grantee further agrees that it will bear its share of the cost of any interconnection. The costs will be allocated between and among the systems being interconnected in an equitable manner. The grantee may not construct any physical facilities to provide an interconnection with other cable communications or data systems until the plans for the interconnection have been approved by the Board.
(Ord. passed 10-19-98)