111.14 FRANCHISE FEE.

There is hereby imposed a franchise fee of one percent (1%) upon the gross revenue generated from the sale of electricity by the Company within the corporate limits of the City. The franchise fee shall be remitted by the Company to the City on or before the last business day of the calendar quarter following the close of the calendar quarter in which the franchise fee is charged.

1.   The Company will commence collecting franchise fees on or before the first Company billing cycle of the first calendar month following ninety (90) days of receipt of information required of the City to implement the franchise fee, including the City’s documentation of customer classes subject to or exempted from City-imposed franchise fee.

2.   The City shall be solely responsible for identifying customer classes subject to or exempt from paying the City imposed franchise fee. The Company shall have no obligation to collect franchise fees from customers in annexed areas until and unless notice of such annexation has been provided to the Company by certified mail. The Company shall commence collecting franchise fees in the annexed areas no sooner than sixty (60) days after receiving notice from the City.

3.   The Company shall not, under any circumstances, be required to return or refund any franchise fees that have been collected from customers and remitted to the City. In the event the Company is required to provide data or information in defense of the City’s imposition of franchise fees or the Company is required to assist the City in identifying customers or calculating any franchise fee refunds for groups of or individual customers, the City shall reimburse the Company for the reasonable expenses incurred by the Company to provide such data or information.

111.15 MANAGEMENT FEES.

Upon implementation of a franchise fee, the City shall not, pursuant to Section 480A.6 of the Code of Iowa, collect any right of way management fees from the Company.

111.16 HOME RULE.

The City reserves to itself all home rule powers and authority.

111.17 INSURANCE.

The Company shall continually, at its expense, procure and maintain coverage and annually provide evidence of financial resources to pay losses and damages through a combination of self-insurance and commercial insurance or full self-insurance in amounts satisfactory to the City insuring against all claims, demands, or actions for injury, death and damage of property sustained as a result of any one occurrence in an amount of not less than $2,500,000, and aggregate in the amount of not less than $5,000,000 arising from, related to, or connected with, the conduct and operation of Company’s business in, on, or around the City’s public streets and right of ways. The City shall be listed as the additional insured.

111.18 BINDING AGREEMENT.

This franchise shall apply to and bind the City and the Company and their successors and assigns. No consent shall be required for any assignment or transfer by merger, consolidation, or reorganization. Upon any sale or assignment by the Company, the Company shall file with the City Clerk written notice of the proposed sale or assignment and clearly summarize the proposed procedure and the terms and conditions thereof. If the City determines it needs additional information, the Company shall provide the requested information. The Company shall reimburse the City for the City’s costs incurred in reviewing all matters relating to the sale or assignment, including the costs for consultants and technical experts. The City shall have sixty (60) days from the date of written notice of the sale or assignment to adopt a resolution. If the City fails to adopt a resolution affirming or rejecting the sale or assignment within the sixty (60) day period, the sale or assignment shall be deemed approved.

111.19 TERMINATION.

Either the City or the Company (“party”) may terminate this franchise if the other party shall be materially in breach of its provisions. Upon the occurrence of a material breach, the non-breaching party shall provide the breaching party with notification by certified mail specifying the alleged breach. The breaching party shall have sixty (60) days to cure the breach, unless it notifies the non-breaching party, and the parties agree upon a shorter or longer period for cure. If the breach is not cured within the cure period, the non-breaching party may terminate this franchise and pursue any other right or remedy available under law or in equity, including, but not limited to, a claim to recover all damages, costs of enforcement, and reasonable attorneys’ fees. A party shall not be considered to be in breach of this franchise if it has operated in compliance with state and federal law. A party shall not be considered to have breached this franchise if the alleged breach is the result of the actions of a third party or the other party.

111.20 SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this ordinance shall be adjudged to be illegal or void, such adjudication shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole, and the remaining provisions of this ordinance, which are severable from said unlawful provisions, shall be and remain in full force and effect, the same as if the ordinance contained no illegal or void provisions.