CHAPTER 2
ELECTRIC FRANCHISE

 

9-2-1 Franchise Granted	9-2-6 City Signage on Company Poles
9-2-2 Location of Company Facilities	9-2-7 Indemnification
9-2-3 Tree Trimming	9-2-8 Standards for Operation and Maintenance
9-2-4 Relocation of Company Facilities	9-2-9 Standards for Quality and Quantity of Service
9-2-5 Street Obstruction; Company’s Duty to Repair Surface	9-2-10 Protection of Facilities
	9-2-11 Franchise Fee

 

9-2-1 FRANCHISE GRANTED.

   There is hereby granted to MidAmerican Energy Company, a State corporation, hereinafter called the “Company,” and its successors and assigns, the right and franchise to acquire, construct, erect, maintain, and operate in the City of Clive, Iowa, hereinafter called the “City,” a system for the transmission and distribution of electric energy and communications signals along, under, over, and upon the streets, avenues, alleys, and public places to serve customers within and without the City, and to furnish and sell electric energy to the City and its inhabitants. This franchise shall be effective for a 25-year period from and after the effective date hereof; provided, however, that there may be a reevaluation prior to the end of the 15th year of this franchise, with the opportunity for both parties to request amendments to this franchise. If neither party requests such reevaluation by means of a written notice to the other party at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the 15th year of this franchise, this franchise will continue without change for the remaining 10 years. If such a request to reevaluate or amend the terms of the franchise is made and the parties are unable to agree to amend the terms of this franchise within 90 days or by a mutually agreed upon date, then either party may terminate this franchise at the end of the 15th year. For the term of this franchise, the Company agrees not to exercise its right of eminent domain without the prior approval of the Council, which approval shall be evidenced by a resolution of the Council. The Company shall not, without consent of the City, sell, assign, or convey its franchise rights granted pursuant to the franchise except that the Company may, without the City’s consent, sell, assign, or convey such franchise rights to its affiliated companies or subsidiaries.† 12

 

Notes

12

† EDITOR’S NOTE: Ordinance No. 293 adopting an electric franchise for the City, was passed and adopted on October 7, 1982. Voters approved the franchise at an election held on November 23, 1982. On December 6, 2007, Ordinance No. 875 was approved by Council, and they voted to waive the election provision.

9-2-2 LOCATION OF COMPANY FACILITIES.

   The Company shall have the right to erect all necessary poles and to place thereon the necessary wires, fixtures, and accessories as well as excavate and bury conductors for the distribution of electric energy and communications signals in and through the City 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. If new or replacement wires are to be installed under a street or roadway, a conduit shall be installed by the Company, at the Company’s expense, in which the wires shall be located. The Company agrees that all said conduits and poles shall be placed in locations so as not to interfere with any of the City’s utilities lines, including, but not limited to, water mains, sanitary sewer lines, storm sewer lines, and City owned fiber optic cable which have been, or may hereafter be, located by authority of the City, and to cause minimal interference with the rights or reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the said streets or other public ways and places. In order to further public safety, the Company shall repair any streetlight which is not functioning within 30 days of the City’s report that the streetlight is not operating.

9-2-3 TREE TRIMMING.

   The Company is authorized and empowered to prune or remove, at Company’s expense, any tree extending into any street, alley, or public grounds to maintain electric reliability, safety, to restore utility service and to prevent limbs, branches, or trunks from interfering with the wires and facilities of the Company. The pruning of trees shall be completed in accordance with nationally accepted safety and utility industry standards, ANSI A300-2001, “American National Standard For Tree Care Operations,” and ANSI Z133-2006 pruning, repairing, maintaining, and removing trees, and cutting brush safety requirements, or subsequent revisions to these standards, and City ordinances regarding the trimming of trees and the protection of its facilities upon public grounds. The removal of trees or pruning in public grounds shall require prior approval from the City’s Public Works Department, except in emergency and outage situations. Whether trimming trees for maintenance purposes or in response to emergency and outage situations, the Company shall promptly remove the wood trimmed from the trees from the public right-of-way.