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(A) The grantee shall maintain an office within the town. The town shall have the right to inspect at any time during normal business hours, all books, records, maps, plans, income tax returns, financial statements, service complaint logs, performance test results and other like materials of the grantee when necessary to ascertain the grantee’s compliance with this chapter or the franchise agreement. Access to the aforementioned records shall not be denied by the grantee on the basis that the records contain proprietary information.
(B) Grantee shall permit any duly authorized representative of the town to examine and copy or transcribe any and all maps and other records kept or maintained by grantee or under its control concerning the operations, finances, affairs, transactions or property of grantee. If any of the maps or records are not kept in the town, or upon reasonable request made available in the town, and if the town shall determine that an examination of the maps or records is necessary or appropriate to the performance of any of the town’s duties, then all travel and maintenance expenses necessarily incurred in making the examination shall be paid by grantee.
The grantee shall file with the town, upon reasonable request the following.
(A) Regulatory communications. All reports required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including but not limited to annual proof of performance tests and results, and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) reports, and all petitions, applications and communications of all types submitted by grantee to the FCC, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), or any other federal or state regulatory commission or agency, having jurisdiction over any matter affecting operation of grantee’s system;
(B) Facilities report. An annual report setting forth the physical miles of plant construction and plant in operation during the fiscal year will be made available at the local office of the cable operator for review by town officials as needed and upon reasonable request;
(C) Construction reports. Construction reports shall be sent to the town 30 days after the initial franchise agreement is awarded and monthly thereafter until construction is completed as specified in this chapter;
(D) Proof of performance tests. Proof of performance test results performed as required by the FCC shall be supplied to the town upon request;
(E) Test required by town. Tests required by town as specified in this chapter shall be submitted within 30 days of notification;
(F) Grantee rules. The grantee’s schedule of charges, contract or application forms of regular subscriber service policy regarding the processing of subscriber complaints, delinquent subscriber disconnect and reconnect procedures and any other terms and conditions adopted as the grantee’s policy in connection with its subscribers shall be in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, rules or regulations;
(G) Proof of bonds and insurance. Grantee shall submit to the town the required performance bond, or a certified copy thereof, and insurance certificates as required under the terms and conditions described in this chapter;
(H) Financial and ownership reports. The following financial reports for the franchise area shall be submitted to the town, upon reasonable notice and as required by the town:
(1) A statement of gross annual revenues verifying all revenues from the town franchise as certified by the Vice-President for Finance or an officer of the grantee.
(2) An annual list of officers and members of the Council of grantee and of any parent corporation.
(I) Additional reports. The grantee shall prepare and furnish to the town at the times and in the form prescribed, the additional reports with respect to its operation, affairs, transactions or property, as may be reasonably necessary and appropriate to ascertain grantee’s compliance with this chapter or the franchise agreement.
CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS
(A) Authorization to commence construction and application procedures. Within 30 days of the acceptance by the grantee of an initial franchise, the grantee shall apply for any needed contracts for use of poles. Within 30 days after completion of the make-ready survey identifying the routes of the system facility, the grantee shall apply for all additional licenses from the state, town or other necessary parties, such as the railroads for crossing under or over their property. In any event, all necessary applications for permits, licenses, certificates and authorizations shall be applied for in a timely fashion so that the filing and processing shall not interfere with or cause delay with the construction scheduled as outlined in the franchise. Failure to make the timely application and timely filing shall constitute a substantial violation of this chapter.
(B) Power to contract. Upon grant of the franchise and in order to construct, operate and maintain a cable system in the town, the grantee may enter into contracts with any public utility companies or any other owner or lessee of any poles or underground areas located within the town; obtain right-of-way permits from appropriate town, state and federal officials necessary to cross or otherwise use highways or roads under their respective jurisdiction; obtain permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to erect and maintain antennae; and obtain whatever other permits a town, state or federal agency may require.
(A) Compliance with construction and technical standards. Grantee shall construct, install, operate and maintain its system in a manner consistent with all laws, ordinances, construction standards, governmental requirements and FCC technical standards. The grantee, through the system, shall provide uniform, strong signals which are free from any significant distortion and interference. The system shall be designed, constructed, operated and maintained for 24-hours-a-day continuous operation. The system shall produce, for reception on subscribers’ receivers which are in good working order, either monochrome or color pictures (provided the receiver is color capable) which are free from any significant interference or distortion which would cause any material degradation of video or audio quality.
(B) System design. Any system operating within the town shall at a minimum meet the following:
(1) The system will be spaced to permit a minimum operation, which shall be stated in the franchise agreement;
(2) Grantee shall construct, install and maintain its system in a manner that will enable it to add new services and associated equipment as it becomes reasonable to provide them to subscribers, taking into account availability, economic feasibility and marketability; and
(3) The system will utilize converters which will make the system adaptable for the development of future services.
(C) Poles. Grantee will comply with the existing permitting process for use of the public ways.
(D) Contractor qualifications. Any contractor or subcontractor proposed for work of construction, installation, operation, maintenance and repair of system equipment must be properly licensed under laws of the state and all local ordinances.
(E) System equipment. The system erected by the grantee within the town shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper use of the public ways, and to cause minimum interference with the rights and reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the streets, alleys or other public ways. No pole or other fixtures placed in any public ways by the grantee shall be placed in such a manner as to interfere with normal travel on the public way.
(F) Maps. The town does not guarantee the accuracy of any maps showing the horizontal or vertical location of existing substructures. In public rights-of-way, where necessary, the location shall be verified by excavation. Grantee may make use of ULOCO or some other utilities location service and at grantee’s expense.
(G) Quality of construction. Construction, installation, operation and maintenance of the system shall be performed in an orderly and workmanlike manner, in accordance with then current technological standards. All cables and wires shall be installed, where possible, parallel with electric and telephone lines. Multiple cable configurations shall be arranged in parallel and bundled with due respect for engineering considerations.
(H) Construction standards. Grantee shall at all times comply with:
(1) National Electrical Safety Code (National Bureau of Standards);
(2) National Electrical Code (National Bureau of Fire Underwriters);
(3) Bell System Code of Pole Line Construction; and
(4) Applicable FCC or other federal, state and local regulations; and standards as set forth in the franchise.
(I) Non-interference. In any event, the system shall not endanger or interfere with the safety of persons or property in the franchise area or other areas where the grantee may have equipment located.
(J) Antennae. Any antenna structure used in the system shall comply with construction, marking and lighting of antenna structure standards as required by federal and state law or regulation.
(K) OSHA. All worker facilities, conditions and procedures that are used during construction, installation, operation and maintenance of the cable system shall comply with the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(L) Standby power. The grantee shall maintain equipment capable of providing standby power for a minimum of 24 hours for the headend.
The grantee shall extend its cable system and make cable service available to every existing residentially zoned area within the franchise area and within 6 months for newly annexed areas, whenever the density of at least 20 residential dwelling units per cable plant mile, as measured from the existing facilities of grantee’s cable system in the franchise area. For purposes of this section, density per cable mile shall be computed by dividing the number of residential dwelling units in the area by length, in miles or fractions thereof, of the total length of aerial or underground cable necessary to make service available to the residential dwelling units in the area in accordance with the grantee’s system design parameters. The cable length shall be measured from the nearest point that is located within the public ways. The total cable length shall exclude the drop necessary to serve individual subscriber premises. In the cases where residential density does not meet the density requirement, consideration will be made for line extensions based on a cost share basis as may be specified in the franchise agreement. The grantee may not otherwise discriminate against low income or low-density areas. For good cause, the grantee may request and the Town Manager may grant reasonable extension of time, within which to provide services to those areas with less than 20 homes per plant mile.
(A) Underground installation. All installations shall be underground in those areas of the town where public utilities providing telephone and electric service are underground at the time of installation. In areas of the town where either telephone or electric utility facilities are above ground at the time of installation, grantee may install its service above ground, provided that at the time as those telephone or electric utility facilities are either required to be placed underground by the town or in fact are placed underground, the grantee shall likewise place its services underground without direct additional cost to the town or to the individual subscribers so served within the town. Where not otherwise required to be placed underground by this chapter or the franchise, the grantee’s system shall be located underground at the request of the adjacent property owner, provided that the excess cost over the aerial location shall be borne by the property owner making the request.
(B) Approvals. Prior to construction or alteration, grantee will obtain all required construction permits.
(C) Interference with persons, improvements, public and private property and utilities. The system shall be located, erected and maintained so that the facilities shall:
(1) Not endanger or interfere with the health, safety or lives or persons;
(2) Not interfere with any improvements the town or state may deem proper to make;
(3) Not interfere with the free and proper use of public ways except to the minimum extent possible during actual construction or repair;
(4) Not interfere with the rights and reasonable convenience of private property owners, except to the minimum extent possible during actual construction or repair; and
(5) Not obstruct, hinder or interfere with any gas, electric, water or telephone facilities, easements, property rights or other utilities facilities’ easements located within the town.
(D) Restoration to prior condition. In case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk, driveway or other surfacing, the grantee shall, at its own cost and expense and in a manner approved by the town, replace and restore all paving, sidewalk, driveway, landscaping or surface of any street or alley disturbed, consistent with the practices of local utilities. The restoration shall be undertaken within no more than 10 business days after the damage is incurred and shall be completed as soon as possible thereafter. The closing shall be at the expense of the grantee.
(E) Private property. Grantee shall be subject to all laws, ordinances or regulations regarding private property or regulations regarding private property in the course of constructing, installing, operating or maintaining the system. Grantee shall promptly repair or replace all private property, both real and personal, damaged or destroyed as a result of the construction, installation, operation or maintenance of the system at its sole cost and expense.
(F) Relocation of the facilities. In the event that at any time during the period of the franchise, the town or state shall lawfully elect to alter, or change, the grade of any street, alley or other public ways, the grantee, upon reasonable notice by the proper authority, shall remove or relocate as necessary its poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, manholes and other fixtures at its own cost and expense.
(G) Cooperation with building movers. The grantee shall, on the request of any person holding a building moving permit issued by the town, temporarily raise or lower its wire to permit the moving of buildings. The expense of the temporary removal, raising or lowering of wires shall be paid by the person requesting the same, and the grantee shall have the authority to require the payment in advance. The grantee shall be given not less than 15 working days advance notice to arrange for the temporary wire changes.
(H) Tree trimming. The grantee shall have the authority, except when in conflict with existing town ordinances, or other applicable law, to trim any trees upon and overhanging public right-of-way so as to prevent the branches of the trees from coming in contact with system facilities, except that at the option of the town, the trimming may be done by it, or under its supervision and direction, at the expense of the grantee.
(I) Easements. All necessary easements over and under private property shall be arranged for by the grantee.
(A) Progress report. Within 180 days of the granting of an initial franchise agreement pursuant to this chapter, the grantee shall provide the town with a written progress report detailing initial construction work completed to date. The report shall include a description of the progress in applying for any necessary agreements, licenses or certifications and any other information the Town Manager may deem necessary. The content and format of the report will be determined by the Town Manager and may be modified at his or her discretion.
(B) Timeframe for reports. The written progress reports shall be submitted to the Town Manager’s office on a monthly basis throughout the entire construction process. The Town Manager or his or her designee may require more frequent reporting, if he or she determines it is necessary to better monitor the grantee’s progress.
(C) Subscriber information. Prior to the commencement of initial system construction, the grantee shall produce an informational document to be distributed to all residents of the area to be under construction, which shall describe the activity that will be taking place.
(A) Tests. All testing of the system shall be done in accordance with the rules and regulations of the FCC. In addition, the town, in its discretion may require other testing and reports as it determines to be necessary to protect the interests of the citizens of the town and when necessary to ascertain grantee’s compliance with this chapter and the franchise agreement.
(B) FCC reports. A copy of any performance test reports required by the FCC shall be submitted to the town upon request and with reasonable notice.
(C) Complaints. Whenever there have been similar complaints made or when there exists other evidence, which, in the reasonable judgment of the town, casts doubt on the reliability or quality of the grantee’s system, the town shall have the right and authority to compel the grantee to test, analyze and report on the performance of its system. The town may require additional tests, full or partial repeat tests, different test procedures, or tests involving a specific subscriber’s terminal. Reports on the tests shall be delivered to the town no later than 30 days after the town formally notifies the grantee and shall include the following information: the nature of the complaints which precipitated the special tests; what system component was tested; the equipment used, and procedures employed in the testing; the results of the tests; and methods by which the complaints were resolved. The tests and analyses shall be supervised by an engineer who shall sign all records of the special tests and forward same to the town with a report interpreting the results of the tests and recommending what actions should be taken by the town. All the tests shall be at the expense of the grantee.
(D) Consultants. The town shall have the right, at its expense, to employ or contract with qualified consultants and attorneys if necessary or desirable, to assist in the administration of this or any other section of this chapter or the franchise.
SERVICE REGULATIONS
The town reserves the right to enforce all relevant service rules and regulations as set forth by federal, state and local governments. These rules and regulations include but are not limited to FCC customer service regulations, as hereafter amended by the FCC, and the town’s rate and service regulation ordinance, as hereafter amended by the town from time to time.
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