112.22 RENEWAL OF FRANCHISE.

1.   The City and the Grantee agree that any proceedings undertaken by the City that relate to the renewal of the Grantee’s franchise shall be governed by and comply with the provisions of Federal law.

2.   In addition to the procedures set forth in the Cable Act, the City agrees to notify the Grantee of its assessments regarding the identity of future cable-related community needs and interests, as well as the past performance of the Grantee under the then current franchise term. The City further agrees that such assessments shall be provided to the Grantee promptly so that the Grantee has adequate time to submit a proposal pursuant to the Cable Act and complete renewal of the franchise prior to expiration of its term.

3.   Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this section, the Grantee and the City agree that at any time during the term of the then current franchise, while affording the public appropriate notice and opportunity to comment in accordance with the provisions of Federal law, the City and Grantee may agree to undertake and finalize informal negotiations regarding renewal of the then current franchise and the City may grant a renewal thereof.

112.23 CONDITIONS OF SALE.

If a renewal or extension of Grantee’s franchise is denied or the franchise is lawfully terminated, and the City either lawfully acquires ownership of the cable system or by its actions lawfully effects a transfer of ownership of the cable system to another party, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at the price determined pursuant to the provisions set forth in Section 627 of the Cable Act. The Grantee and the City agree that in the case of a final determination of a lawful revocation of the franchise, the Grantee shall be given at least twelve (12) months to effectuate a transfer of its cable system to a qualified third party. Furthermore, the Grantee shall be authorized to continue to operate pursuant to the terms of its prior franchise during this period. If, at the end of that time, the Grantee is unsuccessful in procuring a qualified transferee or assignee of its cable system which is reasonably acceptable to the City, the Grantee and City may avail themselves of any rights they may have pursuant to Federal or State law. It is further agreed that the Grantee’s continued operation of its cable system during the twelve-month period shall not be deemed to be a waiver, nor an extinguishment of, any rights of either the City or the Grantee.

112.24 TRANSFER OF FRANCHISE.

The Grantee’s right, title or interest in the franchise shall not be sold, transferred, assigned or otherwise encumbered, other than to an entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Grantee, without prior written notice to the City. No such notice shall be required, however, for a transfer in trust, by mortgage, by other hypothecation, or by assignment of any rights, title or interest of the Grantee in the franchise or cable system in order to secure indebtedness.

112.25 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION HEARINGS/PERIODIC REVIEWS.

On the fifth and ninth anniversaries of the effective date of the franchise, the City may require a review of this franchise, subject to the following:

1.   Any such review shall be open to the public and announced in a official City newspaper. The Grantee shall reasonably notify its local subscribers of review sessions by announcing same through either public notices or inserts in subscribers’ billing statements.

2.   Topics to be discussed at any scheduled review session may include, but will not be limited to, franchise fees; free or discounted services; application of new technologies; system performance; services provided; programming offered; customer complaints; privacy; amendments to this chapter; judicial and FCC rulings; line extension policies; and existing or prospective rules or regulations of the Grantee or the City.

3.   Members of the general public may add topics by requesting of the City such topics be added to the agenda of its meeting.

4.   During review or evaluation by the City, the Grantee shall fully cooperate with the City and shall provide such non-confidential information and documents as the City may need to reasonably perform the review.

5.   As a result of the review, the City and Grantee may determine that a change in the terms of the franchise may be necessary, that the cable system or franchise requirement should be updated, changed, revised or that additional services should be provided. If the change is consistent with the terms of this franchise and implementation of the change would not unreasonably add to the cost of providing cable services, Grantee and the City will change the agreement upon mutual agreement.

112.26 AUTOMATIC TERM EXTENSION.

The term of this franchise shall be automatically extended for an additional five years for a total term length of fifteen (15) years if the Grantee is determined to be in compliance with the material terms and conditions of the franchise agreement upon completion of the performance review to be completed on or about the ninth anniversary of the effective date of the franchise. † 6

 

Notes

6	† EDITOR’S NOTE: Ordinance No. 0502 adopting a cable television franchise for the City was passed and adopted on April 25, 2005.

112.27 BOOKS AND RECORDS.

The Grantee agrees that the City, upon 30 days’ written notice to the Grantee and no more than once annually, may review such of its books and records at the Grantee’s business office, during normal business hours and on a non-disruptive basis, as is reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with the terms of this franchise. Such notice shall specifically reference the section of the franchise which is under review, so that the Grantee may organize the necessary books and records for easy access by the City. Alternatively, if the books and records are not easily accessible at the local office of the Grantee, the Grantee may, at its sole option, choose to pay the reasonable travel costs of the City’s representative to view the books and records at the appropriate location. The Grantee shall not be required to maintain any books and records for franchise compliance purposes longer than three (3) years. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, the Grantee shall not be required to disclose information which it reasonably deems to be proprietary or confidential in nature, nor disclose books and records of any affiliate which is not providing cable service in the service area. The City agrees to treat any information disclosed by the Grantee as confidential and only to disclose it to employees, representatives and agents thereof that have a need to know, or in order to enforce the provisions hereof. The Grantee shall not be required to provide subscriber information in violation of Section 631 of the Cable Act.