(A) The grantee shall not construct any cable system facilities until the grantee has secured the necessary permits from the grantor, or other cognizant public agencies.
(B) In those areas of the city where transmission or distributions facilities of all the public utilities providing telephone and electric power service are underground, the grantee likewise shall construct, operate and maintain its transmission and distribution facilities therein underground.
(C) In those areas of the city where the grantee's cables are located on the above-ground transmission or distribution facilities of the public utility providing telephone or electric power service, and in the event that the facilities of both such public utilities subsequently are placed underground, then the grantee likewise shall construct, operate and maintain its transmission and distribution facilities underground, at grantee's cost. Certain of the grantee's equipment, such as pedestals, amplifiers and power supplies, which normally are placed above ground, may continue to remain in above-ground closures.
(D) In new residential developments in which all the electric power and telephone utilities are underground, the following procedure shall apply with respect to access to and utilization of underground easements:
(1) The developer shall be responsible for contacting and surveying all franchised cable operators to ascertain which operators desire (or, pursuant to the terms and provisions of this chapter and any franchise agreement, may be required) to provide cable service to that development. The developer may establish a reasonable deadline to receive cable operator responses. The final development map shall indicate the cable operators that have agreed to serve the development.
(2) If one or two cable operators wish to provide service, they shall be accommodated in the joint utilities trench on a nondiscriminatory shared basis. If fewer than two operators indicate interest, the developer shall provide conduit to accommodate two sets of cable television cables and dedicate to the city any initially unoccupied conduit. The developer shall be entitled to recover the cost of such initially unoccupied conduit in the event that the grantor subsequently leases or sells occupancy or use rights to any grantee.
(3) The developer shall provide at least ten working days notice of the date that utility trenches will be open to the cable operators that have agreed to serve the development. When the trenches are open, cable operators shall have two working days to begin the installation of their cables, and five working days after beginning Installation to complete Installation.
(4) The final development map shall not be approved until the developer submits evidence that:
(a) It has notified each grantee that underground utility trenches are to open as of an estimated date, and that each grantee will be allowed access to such trenches, including trenches from proposed streets to individual homes or home sites, on specified nondiscriminatory terms and conditions; and
(b) It has received a written notification from each grantee that the grantee intends to install its facilities during the open trench period on the specified terms and conditions, or such other terms and conditions as are mutually agreeable to the developer and the grantee, or has received no reply from a grantee within ten days after its notification to such grantee, in which case the grantee will be deemed to have waived its opportunity to install its facilities during the open trench period.
(5) Sharing the joint utilities trench shall be subject to compliance with state regulatory agency and utility standards. If such compliance is not possible, the developer shall provide a separate trench for the cable television cables, with the entire cost shared among the participating cable operators. With the concurrence of the developer, the affected utilities and the cable operators, alternative installation procedures, such as the use of deeper trenches, may be utilized, subject to applicable law.
(6) Any cable operator wishing to serve an area where the trenches have been closed shall be responsible for its own trenching and associated costs and shall repair all property to the condition which existed prior to such trenching.
(7) In the event that more than one franchise is awarded, the city reserves the right to limit the number of drop cables and/or pedestals per residence, or to require that the drop cable(s) and/or pedestals(s) be utilized only by the cable operator selected by the resident to provide service.
(Ord. G-15-95, passed 6-13-95)